


Of Monsters And Men

by rosarevolution



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Loki Fandom, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Movies), Thor - All Media Types, Tom Hiddleston Fandom
Genre: Avengers Family, Avengers Tower, Domestic Violence, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Loki & Tony Stark Friendship, Loki (Marvel) Does What He Wants, Loki (Marvel) Feels, Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, Loki (Marvel) is a Good Bro, Loki Can Be Sweet, Loki Falls In Love, Loki Kink, Past Domestic Violence, Possessive Loki (Marvel), Protective Loki (Marvel), Sweet Loki (Marvel), Thor (Marvel) is a Good Bro, loki is a little shit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-10
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-03-16 12:02:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 38
Words: 141,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13635897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosarevolution/pseuds/rosarevolution
Summary: After his attack on New York, Loki is banished from Asgard and sent to Midgard to live in the Avengers Tower and support them on their missions. None of them approve of his presence in the tower, though.When Tony Stark hires a new assistant, she and Loki quickly start to get along really well, until Loki begins to suspect that there is something she hides from him; something that weighs heavily on her. While he is forced to watch her fall into pieces, he slowly finds himself falling into something entirely different...





	1. I Am Loki Of Asgard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After I've started my other story, I somehow felt the need for a "Sweet Loki" story too, so here we go!
> 
> There might be a few sensitive topics to come, but I will update the tags and also write a warning in the chapter notes if that happens.
> 
> I apologise for any mistakes I've made, english is not my first language.
> 
> Feedback and comments are very appreciated :)

Loki was annoyed. He had spent almost a year on this pathetic excuse for a planet now, surrounded by the pathetic excuses for super heroes, and it was a pathetic excuse for an existence, really. Not at all befitting the man that he was, the royalty, the _god_.

He was cursing Odin every single day for the inadequate punishment he had administered to him, and he regretted the day that he had saved the old man's life - he should have let Laufey kill him; then he would most certainly not be in this predicament now. Frigga and Thor would never have ordered him to be punished in this way, he was quite sure of that. Come to think about it; if he had not saved Odin's life, he would never have ended up at Thanos' mercy and therefore would never have attacked Midgard, anyways, which meant that he wouldn't have done anything that deserved punishment in the first place.

He let out a sigh. Whichever way he looked at it, his so called father was responsible for his current situation, and he loathed him with every fiber of his body.

With another deep sigh, he looked out of the window. It was raining, a weather most befitting his mood, and he kept watching silently as the raindrops were falling down on this godforsaken realm.

At least the tower he was forced to live in with the rest of the posse of world saving numskulls offered a nice view on sunny days. The whole establishment was quite comfortable - nothing compared with the luxury he was used to, of course, but he couldn't complain, really; even though he did so most of the times.

The worst part of his punishment was how utterly _boring_ this world was. Odin hadn't banished him to Earth without giving him certain responsibilities, of course; he had been forced to commit himself to help the Scavengers (as he prefered to call them) whenever necessary, but neither of them found him reliable enough to even consider asking him for his assistance.

And that's why he's spent the last year in this common room, his own apartment in the tower or the training room; either staring out of the window, reading, eating, sleeping or practising.

It was unnerving.

For the last few months, he hadn't even seen Thor regularly; there had been "a situation" on Asgard that he'd had to take care of - Loki wasn't even allowed to know what was happening at home, but he was acting as if he didn't care, anyways. He would never have thought it possible before, but considering that nobody in this tower cared enough to exchange a single word with him, he actually found himself missing his brother from time to time.

When he heard footsteps, he looked up, surprised to see someone enter the room. The others had left a while ago - for another mission, he supposed, since they had all been wearing their suits - and neither of them would come into this room when he was already in it, anyways - they didn't seem to be able to stand his mere presence.

Still, there was a small mortal girl coming closer, with brown, curly hair and big brown eyes that were looking around curiously. She didn't seem to have noticed Loki, who was sitting in the corner of the room. Loki eyed her with furrowed brows. He was certain that he had never seen her before, and he thought it odd that some random stranger was walking around in this heavily guarded building. She didn't seem dangerous, though, so Loki just watched her as she was walking into the kitchen and coming out of it again with a cup of coffee to sit down on one of the couches, curiously browsing through the book that Loki had left there earlier.

Loki was starting to feel rather irritated by the lack of interest this mortal had in him. He wasn't used to not being noticed. 

When the girl put her feet on the table and took a sip of coffee, he decided to end this audacious display of ignorance of his presence.

"Feel yourself at home", he said indignantly.

The girl leaped up and shrieked out, at first in surprised fear of the sudden voice coming out of a room she thought to be empty, and then in pain because she had poured the cup of hot coffee all over her body.

"Fuck!" she shouted, jumping up and down, and ran into the kitchen. Loki's gaze followed her until she was out of sight. He could still hear her curse at herself in the kitchen, though, and he was slightly uncertain of what he was supposed to do now. He had planned to scare her a little and shoo her away, but it looked like he'd just been outperformed by a hot beverage.

The girl came back a minute later, wiping on her clothes with a wet towel, and walked up to Loki to sit down opposite to him.

"Holy shit", she said and laughed out, "I'm so sorry, you scared me to hell. I thought I was alone in here."

Loki furrowed his brows and stared at her.

"Well, you were not", he said blankly.

The girl giggled. "Yeah, I know that, now. Sorry for screaming, I didn't want to scare you or something."

Now that was the limit.

"You did not _scare_ me. I was merely intrigued by your peculiar reaction."

She gave him a kind smile, obviously not the slightest bit appalled or intimidated by the dangerous god that was frowning at her.

"I'm Emily, by the way, we haven't met yet. I'm Tony Stark's new assistant. Or Iron Man's sidekick, in Stark's words." Again, she smiled, and then seemed to be at least a bit insecure when Loki's face remained completely blank.

He did remember a memo from Stark about a new assistant he had hired to take care of "In-tower Contingencies", whatever that was supposed to mean; Loki hadn't read it. This must be her then. He eyed her up and down.

"Um... well -" she said, finally looking uneasy, "And - who are you?"

_She must be kidding_ , Loki thought - he wasn't exactly one to be forgotten easily and his face had been plastered over the whole planet for weeks after his attack three years ago.

"I am Loki of Asgard", he said sternly.

He finally saw realization in her expression and leant back in his chair, waiting for her to jump up and leave the room. But she didn't.

"Shit, sorry. Of course. I'm so bad at remembering faces and names", she said apologetically, and when he tilted his head slightly and raised his eyebrows, she seemed to mistake his expression and quickly added "It's nothing personal, really. When I ran into Thor a few weeks ago, I asked him for an autograph because I thought he was the guy from The Hunger Games."

She laughed sheepishly.

"I must have looked like an idiot when I glanced down at the paper he had signed and saw some ancient runes on it."

"That was most befitting, considering how Thor looks like an idiot himself most of the time", Loki snorted, and Emily laughed out loud.

"Wow, finally somebody who is not obsessed with him and his oh so pretty hair", she grinned, "My friends all swoon over him; they were begging me to take pictures of him", she rolled her eyes and then her smile returned to her lips, "I sent them a picture of Barbie, but they weren't amused."

"Barbie?" Loki repeated slightly confused, but he didn't really care about the meaning behind the word; all that he had understood was that this mortal girl was both unimpressed by Thor and annoyed by his huge fan club, and he was quite satisfied with that.

When Emily showed him a picture of Barbie on her mobile phone, he actually laughed out heartily. Maybe he could like this mortal.

"The only thing missing is that hammer he is so obsessed with, right?" she asked, and Loki grinned.

"And a few beard stubbles", he added amused.

"Did you hurt yourself?" he asked then, and the girl looked up at him, clearly startled.

"With the hot beverage", he explained, and Emily blushed. "No, it wasn't that bad. My clothes are wet, though... but at least they are black, nobody else will notice. Hey, why are you not on the mission with the others? Stark told me the tower would be empty today and that I should use the opportunity to get familiar with everything."

Loki frowned. "He must have forgotten about me then. He is in good company with that."

"What do you mean?" Emily asked curiously, but Loki shrugged it off.

"Nothing."

Now it was Emily's turn to frown. "It didn't sound like nothing."

Loki eyed her carefully. He had no idea how he had ended up in a private conversation with a mortal stranger, but he had to admit that he was enjoying it, somehow. It did get a little lonely in here, and he couldn't remember the last proper conversation that he'd had.

"Well, I am supposed to be joining the Avengers on missions", he said slowly, "But they do not seem to require my assistance."

"What? Is there something I'm missing? You _are_ that inhumanly fast and powerful wizard god, are you not? How could anyone not require your assistance?"

Loki stared at her, incapable to hide his curiosity. So this girl actually was aware of who and what he was - even though her description of him lacked a certain degree of accuracy - so why was she not scared of him? For a moment, he considered asking her, but he decided that he found it rather refreshing to talk to someone who wasn't looking at him as if he were to devour them, and he didn't want that to change.

"Well, they don't", he just said, as if it didn't bother him at all.

"I guess it's your idiotic brother then who is in good company with the other idiotic Avengers", Emily blurted out, and blushed in the very same moment. "Oh God, this is my first week in this job and I've just insulted everyone that I'm going to work with. I hope you won't tell on me."

A bitter smirk appeared on Loki's face. "Do not worry. I have nobody to tell anything."

Emily looked at him with a faint smile on her lips. "I know that feeling", she said so quietly that Loki wouldn't have heard it if he'd been a mortal. He was just about to reply when a loud voice sounded from the door.

"Hey, Sith Lord, the poor girl has only been here for a week, would you stop terrorizing her? It was hard enough to find someone who would come here willingly with certain mass murderers residing here."

Loki raised slowly, giving Tony a hateful glare.

"Oh, you should not be too hard on yourself, Stark. I believe your time as a warlord is over, is it not, even though you do still relish in your spoils of war?"

Tony sneered at him. "Just stay away from my employees."

Emily, who was watching Tony and Loki with a frown, stood up and tried to interject, but she didn't even manage to say a single word before Loki was already shooting back at Tony.

"Congratulations, by the way. I see that you are back from your recent mission and managed to not get yourselves killed. Bravo!"

Tony raised a brow. "You're congratulating me? Did hell freeze over? Wait, did _you_ freeze hell over, Ice Cube?"

Loki stiffened, but remained calm. "Well, considering what incompetent amateurs you and your little minions are, I have to admit that I am truly impressed every time that I see you return here without a coffin."

Emily finally managed to interrupt the verbal duel. "Um, hello, Mr Stark - actually, I was having a nice conversation with Loki, we -"

Tony didn't even look at her; he kept his gaze on Loki. "No need to defend the Dark Lord, Emily. If he's threatened you in any way, you -"

"What?" Emily said, surprised, "He - no, he didn't -"

Loki's strutted past her while she was stuttering, and when he reached the door, he turned around to look at Tony.

"If I intended to harm any of the pathetic mortals in this tower, I would not feel the need to threaten them before, Stark. I could kill them with a snap of my finger and they would be dead before you could even think of another name to call me."

And then he disappeared.

Emily gazed after him.

Tony sighed. "I'm sorry, Emily, we usually don't talk much to him. It never ends pleasantly."

"It _was_ quite pleasant, actually, until... um..."

She didn't have the courage to tell her new boss that it had actually been him who had interrupted a really pleasant conversation, so she fell silent, fiddling with her black sleeves.

"Yes, I know", Tony said, clearly misinterpreting her silence, "He really is a pain in the ass, asgardian or human, I guess. Anyways, I've got to run. You alright?"

Emily nodded and watched him leave the room.

She felt a sharp pang of guilt rush through her. She had let Loki down while he hadn't done anything at all to deserve Tony's accusations - he had really seemed to be nice. Yes, she knew of his history, of course she did - but he was here to be given a second chance, wasn't he? It didn't seem as if anybody in this tower was actually granting him an opportunity to prove that he'd changed, though. As far as she could tell, this Loki was a nice guy, no matter what he'd done in the past - she hadn't felt threatened by him for even a split second.

Emily slowly shook her head, glancing down at her clothes. They were still wet, but she didn't have anything to change, and she really didn't feel like going home now, even though Tony had agreed on flexible work times. She sighed before she walked back into the kitchen to get a new cup of coffee.

Tony had clearly not exaggerated when he'd described the difficult relationships between the residents of the tower. Her job was to take care of everything that was happening in this tower - the administration of schedules, regular meetings between the residents, etc - and she had a feeling that it wouldn't be easy to bring everyone together.

 

 


	2. Even A Broken Clock Is Right Twice A Day

 

Loki had thought to be in an extraordinarily bad mood even before he had met Tony Stark... well, things could always get worse, he guessed.

He was walking straight to the training rooms, desperate to find a quick way to vent his frustration.

Stark had been clever enough to arrange seperate training rooms for Thor and him with different equipment inside of them. Loki had interpreted this decision as another sign of separating him from the others, which is why he had visited the other training rooms one day - but he had quickly come to appreciate Stark's decision after accidentally tearing down one of the punchbags by merely flicking his finger against it.

He was furious. Stark had never shown the slightest bit of respect towards him, and if Loki hadn't known that he would be back in his cell in Asgard only seconds after the Iron Fool's death, he would have ripped out his limbs to throw them out of the tower one after another a long time ago.

The mere thought of this possibility made him smile darkly, and when he finally arrived at the training room, he quickly began his practice to work off his anger.

It wasn't until late evening when he was sitting in his apartment again - alone, of course - that his thoughts returned to the mortal he has met today. He'd never talked much to any of these pathetic creatures before - they were way too far below himself, and apart from that, none of them had ever shown any interest in a conversation with him, either. This one was different, somehow. She had known who he was, what he was and what he had done, and yet she had been sitting next to him, talking and laughing with him as if... as if he was a normal person.

As if they were _friends_ , even.

Loki shook his head. Maybe she had only acted out of fear, even though he hadn't sensed any. Or maybe Stark had told her to act nicely around Loki to spy on him. And even if she had been genuinely friendly - considering that this was her first week as Stark's employee, he could very well assume that the others would spend a considerable amount of time telling her everything about him. When he'd meet her the next time, she would probably know better than to talk with him again.

He felt a slight bit of frustration rise inside of him. Why in Odin's name did he even spend time thinking about a mortal? That was ridiculous, really.

It was simple: he was bored. He was bored to _death_ , and he was close to desperate for any kind of company.

_In default of a soul, the devil puts up with a fly_ , he thought bitterly.

Well, he would see if this mortal was going to be more than a dayfly to him. He sincerely doubted it.

 

 

* * *

 

 

It was a week later that Loki met Emily again, and it was when he was least expecting it. He was in his training room, more or less accidentally shattering some of his gym equipment, when she entered the room so quietly that he didn't even notice her arrival.

She came in just in time to see him rip the already broken equipment apart with his bare hands.

"Wow, remind me to never piss you off", she joked, but when Loki turned around quickly and with his combative face still on, she flinched a little, her eyes widening at his expression. When he recognized Emily, his face softened.

"I will", he grinned, "Hello, Emily."

She smiled back, relieved that his expression had changed. She was rather surprised that he actually remembered her name, and even though neither of them addressed it, Loki shared her surprisement.

"I'm sorry to disturb you", she said, "I didn't know anybody was in here."

"That seems to be a habit of yours."

"I will try to work on it", Emily promised jokingly.

"If that means that I am not going to see you again, then maybe you should not."

Again, they were both surprised by Loki's words.

"Don't worry, even if I knew that you were in a room, I'd still go in it", she said, surprised by her own boldness to flirt with this god.

She was even more surprised to see the god lower his gaze with a hint of uncertainty.

"You would?" he asked quietly, sounding slightly doubtful and insecure, and Emily frowned.

"Of course, why wouldn't I?"

Loki shrugged, then turned around to make a little hand movement, and Emily's mouth fell open when the shattered pieces of the black dummy were starting to fly around in some sort of green fog as if they were put back together by invisible hands.

"Wow!", she said, "That's incredible!"

She looked at Loki, who shrugged again.

"May I come closer?" she asked shyly, and he frowned.

"Scared of me after all?" he said bitterly and cursed himself for saying it out loud - the last thing he wanted people to know was that he was growing tired of scaring people away.

"Not of you", Emily said and looked at the ground, "I was just... scared that you might be angry at me."

Loki stared at her. "Why in the nine realms would I be angry at you?"

"Well, the last time we talked... when Mr Stark came in, I - I tried to explain to him that you didn't do anything wrong, but he didn't even listen."

Loki shook his head slowly. "That's just how the Iron Idiot's dysfunctional brain works, I suppose. I could be serving him breakfast in bed and he would be assuming that I wanted to poison him."

Emily laughed, but quickly became serious again. "I'm sorry for how they treat you. I think it's unfair", she said, "But I'm also sorry that I didn't speak up for you."

Loki eyed the girl curiously. "There is nothing to be sorry for."

She smiled and stepped closer. When she reached the dummy, she touched it carefully. "I can't believe you fixed this thing just like that. It was torn to shreds."

Loki looked slightly embarrassed. "That was me too, actually. It is challenging, really, to work with this stunted training equipment without damaging it."

Emily looked between the dummy and the god and raised an eyebrow. "This should actually be some of the most qualified and expensive equipment there is. I know Mr Stark bought extra equipment for you and your brother."

"I know", Loki sighed, "And I actually appreciate the thought behind that. That is why I never told him that even this extra equipment is still merely... er..."

"Children's toys for you?"

"Precisely."

"Why don't you ask Thor to bring something from your home?"

Loki didn't reply. He didn't want to tell her that there was no way he would ever ask his brother for a favour like this, nor would he ever admit that he was in need of his help, either.

"What were you looking for in this room, by the way?" he asked.

Emily noticed that he didn't answer her question, but she didn't comment on it. Instead, she gave Loki a bright smile. "Just what I found in it. You. I just didn't really expect you to actually be here."

Loki cocked his head. "You were looking for - _me?_ "

She nodded. "I wanted to apologize for what has happened last week. I felt terrible about that. I was looking for you for the last days, but you're really hard to find."

He raised his eyebrows. There must be some kind of mistake with this mortal - she had actually been looking for him to apologize for something that was most certainly not her fault.

But there was something else that she'd just said that was irritating him even more.

"I am in my apartment most of the time", he said warily, "I would not call that hard to find."

Emily blushed at that and bit her lip, but didn't say anything.

Loki's eyes narrowed. "What is it?"

She obviously struggled with herself, but finally decided to tell the truth. "The day after we've met, I was already in the elevator to get to your floor when I met Mr Stark, and when he asked me where I was going... Um - he kind of - forbade me to visit you."

Loki, who had gathered up the lances and daggers lying around on the floor, turned around on his heels. "I beg your pardon?"

Emily, feeling more than uncomfortable, avoided his gaze. "He said it was too dangerous and that I was naive for thinking differently... and he told JARVIS to restrict the access to your floor."

Loki gave his best to remain calm. "Restrict?"

"Yes - well - you and Thor are the only ones who can reach it now."

They both fell silent, and Emily felt even worse than before. She had tried to argue with Tony, but he hadn't even let her finish her sentences most of the time and in the end he'd drawn the "I'm your boss"-card to end their debate.

"Look, I - I'm really sorry..." she said, and Loki shook his head when he looked back at her.

"Is apologizing for circumstances that you have no responsibility for another one of your hobbies?" he asked, and Emily returned his gaze, startled by his question.

"What do you mean?"

"This is only the second time that we talk with each other, yet this was the seventh time that I heard an apology from you."

Emily's eyes widened. "What?"

Loki nodded. "First, because you hadn't noticed me in the common room. Second, for screaming when I had frightened you. Third, for not recognizing me from the news. Fourth, for disturbing me in here -"

Emily had started to laugh, even though she felt slightly awkward. "Okay, okay, I get it. I'm sorr-"

"The eighth one shall be my favourite. An apology for apologizing so often."

Emily felt her cheeks heaten up. She didn't know what to say to that.

Loki eyed her. "Am I correct in assuming that you struggle with the need to apologize right now?"

She scrunched up her nose. "You're teasing me. That's mean. And here I was thinking you were a nice guy."

Loki chuckled. "A nice guy. Now that is a rare characterization of my person. You do know that I am the god of mischief, though, do you not?"

"I do", Emily murmured.

"Good."

Loki, who has just finished cleaning up the mess he had made in the gym, grinned at the mortal.

"Well, Emily, would you allow me to be the one to apologize this time? There is something I need to take care of."

"Yes, sure. I should be working too, actually. The cleaning company has quit and I need to find another one before the tower descends into chaos."

"You are looking for chambermaids?"

Emily smiled. "Kind of, yes. Um, Loki?"

He looked at her. It had been a long time since anyone had simply called him by his name.

"Yes?" he said softly.

"That something you want to take care of... does that have anything to do with Tony Stark?"

Loki chuckled. "Most definitely."

 

 

* * *

 

 

"Stark", Loki said sharply when he entered his office.

Tony turned around from his blackboard, startled by the unexpected interruption, and let out an annoyed sigh when he saw Loki.

"To what do I owe this great and most unpleasant honour of Your Majesty's visit?"

"To the fact that you have decided to retain me in quarantine. You will rescind the restriction to my floor right now."

Tony raised a brow. "Oh, will I? And why will I do that?"

Loki stepped closer, a warning expression on his face. "Because I believe that you do not wish to fly out of a window again. This time I would even be clever enough to kill you before I throw you out."

Tony, not the slightest bit impressed by the threat, huffed. "You and I both know that you're not going to kill me. You couldn't live with the consequences. An eternity in a cell without anybody to talk to... doesn't sound befitting somebody who calls himself Silvertongue."

"And where, pray tell, is the difference to my current situation in this despicable building when you choose to confine me to a floor that nobody else is allowed on?" Loki hissed, and his green eyes were glistening with fury.

Tony frowned. "What, are you telling me you're getting lonely? Would anyone even want to come to your floor anyways?"

Loki grinned coldly. "Why would you feel the need to restrict the access to it otherwise?"

Tony ignored the question. "You're not here to make friends, Lucifer. You're here to - to -"

Loki raised a brow. "To find allies, actually. Which is quite complicated as long as I am kept in a solitary confinement cell."

Tony narrowed his eyes. Little Vader was acting differently, somehow. He was actually arguing quite reasonably, and even though Tony would never say it out loud, he still had to admit that Loki was right with what he was saying.

"I don't trust you", he said eventually, "And I don't want my employees near you. God knows what she sees in you anyways."

"Ah, finally talking about what this really is about, are you?"

"What are you trying to say?"

"I am merely indicating that the real reason behind your worries for a certain employee might -"

Tony interrupted him. "Careful there, Vader. You know I'm with Pepper, and Emily is my assistant and nothing else. But I'm responsible for her, and I don't want her to - to -"

Loki locked eyes with him. "Stark, I know you do not trust me. I do not trust you either. But the reason I am banished to this contemtible planet of yours is to ally with its inhabitants, and I can assure you that, as of now, I do not plan to hurt any of them, since I am aware that Odin is watching every step that I take and I assume that a dead mortal would have most unpleasant consequences for my further life. I would prefer to follow Odin's orders by trying to acquire a taste for the human race instead. You are actively opposing the Allfather's order by hampering me in doing so."

Tony stared at him for a few seconds. He could tell that the dark prince really meant what he'd just said, and even though he didn't like the thought, but he might actually have a point.

"I still don't see why Emily or anybody else should be able to get onto your floor", he said, still unwilling to give in.

Loki raised an eyebrow. "I was not aware that mortals are socially backwards, as well." He took a step closer to Tony and lowered his voice conspirationally. "You do know that a woman can actually be trusted to make her own decisions, do you not?"

Tony's eyes widened. "Are you calling me a sexist?"

Loki eyed him up and down. "Well..."

Tony huffed. Then he looked at Loki thoughtfully.

"Are you telling me", he said after a minute of silence, "that I am actually a bigger asshole than you this time?"

Loki snorted. "Was I too subtle for a feeble-minded being like you?"

Tony couldn't suppress a small smile.

"You might have a point here, Vader. Well, even a broken clock is right twice a day, huh? I'll tell JARVIS to change it."

Loki nodded approvingly, and Tony narrowed his eyes. "Just try not to go into some Jack the Ripper mode down there, okay?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Forget it."

 


	3. The One He Does Not Desire To Slay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short note to avoid confusion: since this story is totally non-canonical anyways, I decided to have Frigga alive (I'll never forgive Marvel for killing off Loki's only confidant). I hope you enjoy the new chapter!

When Loki entered the common room a few days later to see Emily sitting at one of the tables, writing on a notepad, the corners of his lips  _almost_ curled into a smile.  
  
"Hello, Emily."  
  
She looked up and beamed at him. "Hi, Loki. How are you?"  
  
He looked at her, slightly taken aback. It was a most mundane question, but he couldn't remember when he had been asked about his well being the last time.  
  
"I'm fine", he said, "How are you?"  
  
"Same here. But I'm about to leave, actually; Tony and I have a meeting in a few minutes."  
  
"Oh. Of course", Loki said, sobered. He was both disappointed in her quick departure and furious about his disappointment of a mortal's departure.  
  
Emily, who had just scribbled down something on her notepad and missed Loki's reaction, looked up at him.

"It shouldn't take more than an hour, I think - would you like - um - I mean, if you don't have anything to do?"

Loki stared at her, his face completely blank, and her cheeks reddened.

"You don't have to, of course, I just thought - but it's okay - I just - um -"

Loki didn't reply; he was still staring at the mortal girl standing in front of him. She was suddenly acting rather strange, and he didn't have a clue why. He must have missed something.

"He'd love to", he suddenly heard a loud, booming voice behind him, and he didn't have to turn around to know whose it was. He rolled his eyes.

"What, no 'Welcome back', brother?" the voice roared, and Loki finally turned around, bowing mockingly.

"Welcome back", he said with mocking graveness, and Thor laughed out.

"Ah, brother. I've missed you, too."

Thor stepped forward to slap on Loki's back, who closed his eyes in a most excruciated manner, and then turned to Emily to grin at her.

"And Erin! Nice to see you again."

"Her name is Emily", Loki said with an amount of patience that had been hard-earned through centuries of enduring Thor's ignorance. He caught Emily's gaze and they both looked away from each other quickly, trying hard not to grin.

"You are back, then?" Loki said, and Thor slapped his back again.

"I am! We have a lot to talk about, brother."

Loki raised his brows. "Is that so?"

Before Thor could answer, Emily took her notepad and a few papers from the table and stood up. "I'm really sorry, but I have to go now - um -"

"Don't worry, Emily, I won't need more than an hour with my brother either, so you two are free to meet after your meeting with Tony", Thor said and winked at her.

Loki, who finally understood what Emily had been trying to ask him, shot Thor a warning glare, but turned to Emily a split second later and smiled.

"It would be a pleasure", he said, and Emily seemed relieved.

"Make sure to have some coffee ready, I'll need it after an hour with Tony", she joked before leaving the room.

When she was gone, Thor laughed out heartily and slapped his brother's shoulder again. "Brother! You and a mortal!"

Loki snorted. "Don't be ridiculous, Thor. And if that clumsy hand of yours is going to touch me one more time, I shall -"

Thor interrupted him, not paying his rant any attention. "What was that date about, then?"

The dark-haired god let out a sigh. "It is most certainly not a date. We talked before and I found her to be more bearable than the rest of this pathetic race - which is not exactly an achievement, actually."

"As charming as ever. It's still a date, though."

"It is nothing more than a meeting of two beings. In case you failed to notice, my dearest brother, there is little else for me to do on this despicable planet. If Odin's abolition of my banishment requires a certain rapprochement with the human race, I thought it reasonable to begin with the one that I do not desire to slay."

Thor raised a brow. "Maybe you should not say that to your date."

" _She is not_ \- oh dear."

Loki decided to change the topic - both for his own mental and Thor's physical health.

"You are back early", he stated, and Thor nodded.

"After my arrival, the battles did not proceed much further."

"Of course not."

Thor shot him a glare. Then his face softened. "Mother sends her regards."

Loki stiffened. "How gracious."

"Loki. She would have changed father's decision if she could have, but you know how he is. And she'd like to visit you, too, but our father -"

" _Your_ father."  
  
Thor furrowed his brows. "How come it is _our_ mother but only _my_ father?"  
  
Loki crossed his arms. "That is because mother has always behaved like _our_ mother, much unlike that father of yours."

Thor looked at Loki thoughtfully.

"He is not perfect", he said quietly, and Loki huffed, "But he does regret how he -"

Loki turned away from his brother. "Send mother my regards when you leave again."

Before Thor could say another word, Loki was already gone.

 

 

* * *

 

   
It was almost an hour later that Loki returned to the common room. He had given a quick listen to Stark's and Emily's conversation, so he knew that she would be down here in a few minutes, and he had decided to make a coffee for her. He couldn't help himself, and he knew how ridiculous it was, but somehow he wanted to see that bright smile of hers again.

Unfortunately, he had never made coffee before, and he had absolutely no idea how the coffee machine worked.

He stared at the odd machine, eyeing it up and down, and wondered what all these buttons were for. What in the nine realms was a Chococino? Eventually, he decided to carefully push a button that said "Coffee", but it only started flashing. _Magnificent_. He pushed another button and the devilish machine started to beep loudly.  
  
"You pathetic little thing, why are you not working?" he hissed and suddenly heard an amused voice behind him.  
  
"Performance issues again, huh?"  
  
Loki turned around to see Tony standing in the door with crossed arms and a grin on his face.  
  
He shot him a glare. "You should be grateful I do not feel like choking you this time."  
  
Tony stepped into the kitchen and raised his finger. "Ah, but who would explain our advanced technology to you then?"  
  
Loki snorted. "Advanced? That is ridiculous. This inferior machine is far beneath the technological standards of -"  
  
Tony shrugged. "Yeah, but still - here you are, incapable to get yourself a coffee. Or a frappuccino, I guess, whatever it is your cold heart is longing for."  
  
"Forget it", Loki snapped and strutted towards the door.  
  
"What, you're not gonna throw down the gauntlet today?"  
  
Loki stopped and stared at Tony with irritation. "Why in Odin's name would I throw a piece of my armour to the ground?"  
  
Tony returned the confused look for a second, then shook his head.  
  
"Forget it. I came to ask if you could spare a minute or two? There's something I'd like to discuss with you."  
  
The god huffed at this. "That does not sound very enjoyable."  
  
"Ouch. Right in the feels." Tony covered his heart and closed his eyes as if suffering from a severe heartache. "Seriously now. You're coming to my office?"

Loki frowned. "Now?"

"Yeah? You got a date now or what?"

"It is _not a date_ , it is merely -"

Tony's eyes widened. "Holy shit, Romeo!"

Loki started to feel seriously annoyed. He had no romantic interest in Emily at all - the thought itself was plain ridiculous - he simply enjoyed her company; yet here he was, defending himself for the second time today. He began considering to waive the potential joy of a conversational partner. It was most certainly not worth being ridiculed by Thor _and_ Stark.  
  
When Loki fell silent for a second, Tony eyed him with a frown. He's just had a long conversation with Emily about how his and the others' behaviour towards Loki was affecting the mood in the tower and that Loki was definitely not going to become more companionable - or innocuous - by avoiding him at all costs, and he had actually agreed with her, even if reluctantly. Emily had also mentioned that she herself got along with the Dark Lord quite well, and it wasn't too hard to put one and one together now. Tony might not like the idea, but both of them were old enough to make their own decisions, after all. And who knows, maybe they could actually become friends. Or even - no, Tony thought, shuddering in disgust, friends would be more than enough.  
  
"Well, just drop in when you're free, you know where to find me", he said eventually.  
  
Loki frowned and watched Stark suspiciously, waiting for some snippy comment. When none was made, he nodded shortly at Stark and turned his back on him again to glare at the coffee machine.  
  
A split second later, he felt Stark step beside him, and he turned his head with furrowed brows.  
  
"The water tank is empty. Once you've filled it up, you just push the button of whatever beverage you want to drink", Stark said casually and stepped back again.  
  
Loki struggled for a second, then finally decided to say a short "Thank you."  
  
Stark smiled. "Never mind. See ya."  
  
He left the kitchen, but returned a few seconds later.  
  
"Hey, Frosty - Emily likes cappuccino."  
  
When Loki turned around again, Stark was already gone.

 


	4. A Most Peculiar Person

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's Valentine's Day! While I only had a date with my dentist for a root canal treatment today, Emily has a date (which is, of course, not a date) with Loki himself. Real life sucks! Anyways, I hope you have a wonderful day :)
> 
> I'm sorry if this chapter is a little boring, I'm very unsure of it, but Loki and Emily need to get to know each other a little bit... I hope you like it anyways.

When Emily came into the common room to find Loki with two cups of cappuccino on the table in front of him, she beamed.  
  
"You made coffee?" she asked, and Loki grinned.

"You said you needed one after dealing with Stark, did you not?"

"I did! But I was joking, actually - thank you!"

She seemed so pleasantly surprised that Loki almost felt embarrassed. They both sat down and Emily quickly took a big sip of her cappuccino, only to stare at Loki when she had swallowed it.

"How did you know I like cappuccino?" she asked, taken aback, and he smirked.

"I have my ways."

"Do you like them, too?"

Loki eyed the hot brown beverage suspiciously. "I've never had one before, but I thought I might give it a try. I know Thor is very fond of these drinks. How did your meeting with Stark go?"

She smiled. "Very good, actually. I really like this job. I loved the one I had before and thought it would be hard to be satisfied with another one now, but it's just fantastic here."

"Where did you work before?"

"I was working at a university, as an assistant for a professor." She lowered her gaze, an expression of sadness flickering over her face, and took another sip of her cappuccino.

"You have been dismissed?"

Emily's eyes widened. "Oh no, Professor Blake would never have dismissed me! No, I - I quit, it was - it's complicated", she murmured and gazed into space for a second, but she quickly pulled herself together and smiled at Loki. "But I'm starting to really like it here, too."

Loki made a mental note to ask her about her complicated former job one day, but he didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable for now. He looked at her curiously. "Tell me about yourself."

Emily blushed a little. "There's not much to tell, really... I live just a few blocks from here in a little apartment with my boyfriend, and - well, now I work here. Oh, I have a cat that I just love!"

Her eyes lit up when she mentioned the cat and Loki couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm. He had always been fond of cats himself - he liked their casual elegance and obstinacy. Emily pulled her mobile phone out of her pocket and showed him a picture of a black cat with beautiful green eyes.

"I like it", Loki said, and Emily, who looked up from her phone to the grinning god, laughed out.

"I wonder why."

Loki tried his cappuccino thing and found that he actually liked the taste of it.

"I have a wolf in Asgard", he said then, smiling, "And I know what loyal companions animals can be." His expression became bitter, then, when he added, "Odin wouldn't let me take him with me, though. He said it's not common on Midgard to live with a wolf."

Emily frowned. "It's not common here to live with a green monster either; Dr. Banner still lives on the 32nd floor, though, doesn't he?"

Loki eyed her amused. "That is almost exactly what I told Odin when we discussed that matter."

"But he didn't give in?"

Loki just shook his head. He missed Fenrir greatly, he was one of his oldest friends and he used to have him around whenever it was possible.

Emily looked at him sympathetically. "It's unfair to seperate you from him", she said, "You must really miss him. Is anybody taking care of him?"

"My mother does."

"Well, that's something. What's his name?"

Loki smiled. "Fenrir. What is the name of your cat?"

"Nolan. His name means _Little Fighter_." She smiled sadly. "I found him in a garbage can in the middle of the winter, almost starved and frozen to death. I took him home and pepped him up. Now he won't leave my side anymore."

"You saved him", Loki said, "He will be forever loyal to you."

Emily nodded. Then she looked as if she wanted to ask something, she even opened her mouth, but bit her lip instead.

Loki's eyes narrowed. "What is it?"

"Nothing."

"God of lies here, Emily."

Emily's cheeks reddened. "I was just - wondering - well, I know all these nordic myths and - Fenrir, is he - ?"

Loki grinned. "My son?"

Emily looked down, obviously embarrassed, but nodded.

"No", Loki said amused, "But this story is where I took the name from. I'm quite fond of what you midgardians think of me."

Emily opened her mouth, but again, didn't dare to pose her question.

Loki cocked his head. "You have read about Sleipnir, too, huh?"  
  
She nodded. "I guess it's not true either?"  
  
"Well", Loki said, his eyes twinkling with mischief, "That is a whole other story. But I think I would be in need of more than just a coffee to tell you that one."  
  
Emily laughed, both disbelief and amazement on her face.  
  
Loki grinned. "Let us return to you, for now. I am very curious of the human race's way to live. You live with - your boyfriend? I take it that you are not married?"  
  
She shook her head. "No. We've been together for two years now, I moved in with him very quickly after we've met because I - well, just because." She hesitated for a second. "Do you have a girlfriend or a wife or something?"  
  
"You mean apart from Sigyn, who protects me from the snake's venom?"  
  
Emily laughed. "Truth or lie?"  
  
"Not even close to the truth. With all due respect, but how do you mortals even come up with tales like these? Bound to rocks with my dead son's entrails and damned to suffer for an eternity - now that is a cruel way of punishment." He sighed. "I would most certainly prefer it over Odin's, though."  
  
The girl frowned. "You'd rather be tortured with poison for an eternity than spend a little time on Earth? Seriously?"  
  
Loki pressed his lips together. "I am sure you know that I am not very popular amongst your kind. I can hardly blame them, of course, given how I have tried to conquer their world, led an alien invasion and most certainly killed thousands of them."  
  
There. He had said it. This girl seemed to be so comfortable around him that he had begun to wonder if she had somehow missed out on what he'd done to her planet three years ago. But now she knew everything. She would be running from him in a few seconds.  
  
Except that she didn't. Instead, she took a sip of her cappuccino.  
  
Loki stared at her in disbelief.  
  
"That leads me to wonder", he said quietly, "why you don't hate me."  
  
Emily looked up, utter surprise in her eyes. "Me? Why should I hate you?"  
  
Loki threw his hands up frantically. "Did you not follow the news over the last years? Did you not listen to what I just said?"  
  
Emily was taken aback. She eyed him carefully before she started to answer. "Loki, you've never hurt me personally. You didn't even know me three years ago. And the things you've done back then... Yes, I did follow the news, which is why I know that you have been under some kind of alien power thingy influence. Plus, you regret what you've done and you're here at the Avengers Tower for redemption now, aren't you?"  
  
"Both is true, yet..."

He was desperate to know why she wasn't scared; why she didn't hate him, but he was also worried that he might make her reconsider her opinion of him. Before he could really think about how to say it, he blurted out,, "I could kill you with a snap of my fingers!" He bit his tongue in the very same moment. That was not exactly the most ensnaring thing he had ever said to a woman, and for a brief second he could almost hear Thor's voice chastising him for what he'd just said to that poor mortal. "I don't intend to", he added hastily, "but I could, and it makes me wonder why you're not afraid of me."  
  
Emily cocked her head and eyed the god sitting opposite of her. She seemed to think about his words.

"I'm not very strong", she said softly after a few seconds, "and I don't know any kind of self-defense. So I suppose almost every man, even mortal ones, could kill me if they intended to. And there are a lot of bad human people out there - thieves, rapists, murderers - so I guess I should be scared whenever I leave my bedroom because I'll never know whether I'm about to meet someone who could hurt me. But you... you have been nothing but kind to me, and as you just said, you have no desire to kill me, so why should I be more frightened of you than of any man I pass on the street?"

Loki furrowed his brows. "Because not any man you pass on the street is a convicted mass murderer."

Emily looked at him thoughtfully. "How do you know that? Things are never as they seem. The friendliest man in a crowd can be the most cruel one when faced alone. People lie. And people often feign being better than they are. You've made mistakes, yes, but you've taken responsibilty for them and now you're here to make up for them. That is more than a lot of people would ever consider doing."

Loki shook his head very slowly. "You are a most peculiar person."

Emily smiled sadly. "I've heard that before."

"Take it as a compliment."

They both sat in silence for a moment.

"I am glad that you don't hate me", Loki said quietly after a while, and Emily grinned. "And I'm glad that you don't intend to kill me."

"I will let you know if my intentions are ever going to change", Loki said with an amused smile.  
  
"I'd appreciate that." She hesitated for a second, then said "You didn't tell me if you're married by the way."  
  
Loki raised his brows. "I did not? Well, my wife is as fictional as the one in the myths. I am not married, nor do I have a - a girlfriend, if that is what you call it. Not even a bedmaid, actually."  
  
Emily's eyes widened. "Bedmaid? You mean -"  
  
"Indeed."  
  
Emily lapsed into silence.  
  
Loki took another sip of his cappuccino and looked at Emily again. He was more relaxed around her now that he knew that she was aware of him and all of his former crimes.  
  
"How old are you?" he asked curiously, and Emily looked up.  
  
"I'm 28, wha -"  
  
Loki had choked on his coffee and was now coughing uncontrollably. "I am so sorry", he said after a few seconds, "I keep forgetting the ridiculous lifespan of your race." He eyed her up and down. "You would be considered a toddler in Asgard."  
  
Emily laughed. "How old are you?"  
  
Loki chuckled. "Over a thousand years."  
  
The mortal girl gaped at him. "Are you serious?"  
  
Again, Loki let out a chuckle as he emptied his mug and leant back in his chair. "But of course. I assume you think my age to be as astounding as I think yours to be."  
  
Emily still stared at him. "Holy shit! 1000 years old! That's, that's... you're ancient!"  
  
Loki cocked his head. "That is an unflattering way to put it. I would rather call it experienced."  
  
"So what, are you - immortal?"  
  
"Not exactly. But I am certainly not as mortal as you are", Loki grinned.  
  
The girl was still shaking her head in disbelief.  
  
"Well, Erin", the god said eventually, and Emily laughed out, "what do you do in your free time?"  
  
"Um - well, I like to read and write, I enjoy painting and I love music. And I love to go to the beach." She shrugged and her cheeks turned red. "I'm quite boring, I guess."  
  
"I was just thinking the opposite", Loki smiled, "What kind of literature do you write?"  
  
"Oh, just for myself, really. Poems, short stories, my thoughts about all and sundry."  
  
"I would love to read one of your works."  
  
Emily's eyes widened at this.  
  
"Relax", Loki said quickly, "If you don't want me to read it, that is fine -"  
  
"It's just, well, I've never let anyone read my stuff", she admitted, "apart from my boyfriend, but he, well, he didn't like it."  
  
Loki frowned. "He didn't like it?"  
  
"No, he... he's very sophisticated, you know." She shrugged. "What about you?"  
  
"I read a lot, too, and actually, I write as well, when I'm in the mood. Of course I exercise a lot and practice on my abilities."  
  
"And you annoy Stark, as he told me", Emily added, grinning.  
  
"And I annoy Stark", Loki agreed, looking very pleased with himself.  
  
"You did a great job, by the way, when you asked him to undo the restriction to your floor. It made him think."  
  
Loki raised a brow. "I was not aware that he was capable of doing so."  
  
Emily laughed. "He is, trust me. I know, he can be a jerk sometimes. But he's a good guy. You both could get along well, I think, you just have to try. I think you're just a little bit too alike, actually."  
  
Loki huffed, looking as if she had just offended him immensely, and was just about to say something when her phone made a loud noise. She picked it up, looked at it and went pale.

"I'm so sorry", she said hastily, "I didn't realize how late it is already, I should really go."  
  
Loki narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Is everything alright?"  
  
"Yes, of course, I'm fine", she smiled and stood up.  
  
Loki could tell that she was lying, but he didn't say anything. He rose from his chair, too.

"Emily, it was a pleasure to become acquainted with you. I am beginning to think that the human race is not an entirely hopeless case after all."  
  
Emily, who still had a startled look on her face, stopped in her movements, stared at Loki and laughed out loud.

"I take that as a compliment", she giggled, and implied a bow.  
  
He returned it, then winked at her. "Have a nice evening, then."  
  
"You too", she smiled and turned around, but then hesitated. She looked back at Loki insecurely. "I found it nice, too, Loki", she said, so quietly that he might have missed it if he'd been a mortal, "Thank you for - the cappuccino and - everything. See you tomorrow."  
  
And with these words she scurried out of the common room and out of Loki's sight and left him stunned and in disbelief that she had actually enjoyed his presence.


	5. The Devil Does Not Knock On Doors

The next day Loki decided to see Stark after his breakfast. He was curious about his reason to ask him for a talk, even if he'd never admit it. When he teleported into Stark's office - just because he wanted to startle him, really - he was delighted to see him jump up from his chair.

"Fuck it, Lucifer! Never heard of knocking on a door?"

Loki smiled. "The devil does not knock on doors."

Tony huffed while letting himself fall back into his chair, rubbing his chest slightly to calm himself down. "When I call you the devil, it's fun. When you call yourself the devil, it might spark a panic."

"I did not assume that my appearance could possibly spark even more panic than it already does."

Tony sighed. "Actually, that's what I wanted to talk about. Sit down."

The dark god eyed him up and down, as if considering if he was worthy enough to accept his request, and then sat down slowly. "You wanted to talk to me about being less - scary?"

That earned him a laugh. "No, that's a lost cause, I guess. But I've been told that our behaviour towards you is not exactly, well, conducive to the deal I've agreed on with your father."

An expression of annoyance crossed Loki's face when he heard Tony call Odin his father, but he decided to condone it. "What exactly are you talking about, Stark?"

"Well, I agreed on taking you in here for some kind of redemption, and Big Daddy up there said he'd eventually grant you forgiveness if you earned it, right?"

Loki nodded silently.

"Yeah. I didn't exactly give you a possibility to earn it, though. Um - yeah - might have been a mistake, considering that you do have some helpful abilities, after all. So what do you think?"

Loki tilted his head slightly and returned Stark's look. "I think", he said slowly, "that you are asking me for help."

Tony chuckled. "Call it whatever you will, if it makes you feel better. The thing is, we have a - a situation that could require our involvement sooner or later and your abilities could be more than helpful. And you _need_ to be helpful to gain Big Daddy's trust back, right? Why not kill two birds with one stone then?"

The god stared at Tony with a blank face. "Why in Odin's name do you plan to kill birds?" he said slowly, as if doubting Tony's mental health.

"It's just a saying", Tony sighed, "Let me rephrase that - why not solve two problems with one solution?"

Loki nodded thoughtfully. "I see."

"Is that a yes?"

"It is."

"Well, good. Then we should try to team you up with the rest of us."

At this, Loki's eyes narrowed. "The rest of us?"

Tony shot him a surprised look. "Yeah. You know, the _Avengers_."

Loki sighed. "Am I to be spared nothing?"

"This is a punishment, Dracula, what did you expect? Anyways, we're gonna meet tomorrow, 11 am. Is that cool for you?"

"Yes, it is - eh - _cool_."

"Great. Leave your fangs at home, will you?"

"I do not possess fangs in this appearance."

Tony's eyes widened. "In this - ? Oh, forget it, I don't even wanna know."

Loki rose from his chair, nodded at Tony and turned around. Then he hesitated. "It was Emily, was it not? She talked you into this?"

Tony looked at him thoughtfully. "She didn't have to talk me into it", he said eventually, "She just pointed out that I've, well, that I've been an idiot."

Loki snorted. "If you ever need a reminder for that again - it would be a pleasure."

The mortal man huffed, then glanced suspiciously at the god. "Was there a problem between you two, by the way?"

When Loki frowned, Tony shrugged. "Well, I was just wondering if something's gone wrong. I like Emily and she's been doing a great job so far; it would be a real shame if we lost her."

"Nothing went wrong. I am perfectly capable of speaking to another being without scaring it."

Tony shrugged again and turned to his desk. "Sorry, I didn't - well, it's just a coincidence, then."

Loki, clearly annoyed by Tony's mysterious suggestions, rolled his eyes. "Would you care to enlighten me?"

With a surprised expression on his face, Tony turned around again to look at Loki. "Sorry, I thought you knew that Emily's called in sick today. I was just wondering if there was something awkward going on yesterday, you know, so that she didn't wanna face you today."

Loki crossed his arms. "There was nothing awkward going on at all. And I did not know that she is ill."

Actually, he did wonder if he'd done anything wrong yesterday, but he'd rather give Tony a kiss than tell him about his self-doubts. Emily had said that she had enjoyed their date - _their meeting_ , Loki corrected himself - hadn't she? He would have known if it had been a lie, right?

Tony watched Loki, and he could clearly see the insecurity on his face. He already regretted saying something. Quite a few of his employees have caught a cold lately; he had no reason at all to suspect anything different than an illness to be the reason for Emily's absence.

"Relax, Romeo, I'm sure she's just ill. I just wanted to make sure. You know, it can be tricky to mix personal with job-related matters." He let out a deep sigh. "I would know."

Loki raised his brows. "It appears that you are the one that should be called Romeo, then."

"Touché." Tony's eyes widened. "Hey, how come you got that reference?"

The god grinned. "I have been on Midgard for a whole year with no occupation - I thought it reasonable to acquire a certain knowledge about your race." He walked towards the door and turned around a last time, still grinning. "Truth be told, I thought _Lucifer_ was quite amusing."

When he left, Tony stared at the door, startled by his brief consideration that the Dark Lord might actually not be as bad as he'd been thinking for the last three years.

 

 

* * *

 

 

When Loki came into the common room three days later to see Emily standing in front of the coffee machine, he was taken by surprise at how relieved he felt. He had begun to fear that he might be the reason for her absence more and more with every day that she hadn't come to work. He wasn't used to social interaction with mortals, and they were delicate creatures, after all - it might have been a mistake to tell her that he could kill her in a second if he wished to.

"Emily", he said, pleasantly surprised to see her, and she turned around quickly.

"Oh, hi!" she said, smiling just as brightly as she'd done it before.

"Do you feel better?"

"Oh yes, much better. How are you?"

"I am perfectly fine. I was - uncertain if - if it might have been something I've said that -"

She looked at him in shock. "No! No, Loki, absolutely not. Really, you've done nothing wrong."

Feeling without any doubt that she was telling the truth, Loki smiled at her. "Well, good. I assume that mortals fall ill easier than I am accustomed to."

Emily sighed. "Sounds like it's a good thing to be you."

Loki chuckled. "That depends. Is it not a good thing to be you too, though?"

Emily blushed slightly, then turned around to press a button on the coffee machine. "You want one too?"

"Sure."

Loki had not had another coffee since his last one with Emily; but suddenly he found himself longing for one. Thor had always lionized this beverage, telling him how it did not only taste good but also improved one's mood and stamina. Maybe it was about time to give it a try.

He left the kitchen and sat down at one of the tables, and Emily joined him a minute later with two cups of cappuccino.

"I've already met Tony this morning and he told me that you joined the Avengers meetings!"

Emily beamed at him, looking genuinely happy, and Loki couldn't suppress a soft smile.

"I did. And I have a feeling I should thank you for it."

"Me?"

"You told Stark to ask me to join them, did you not?"

Again, Emily blushed, and she took a quick sip of her coffee, then flinched when she realized that it was much too hot to drink it yet.

"Ouch, fuck! Um, sorry. I - no, I didn't tell him - I -"

Loki had to suppress a grin when he saw her clumsy attempt of lying to him. "You do know that I feel when one is lying?"

Emily's face was deep red by now and she seemed tense. "I'm sorry, I - I didn't want to anger you, I just -"

The god raised his brows. "Why would it anger me? It was a very kind thing to do and I truly appreciate your help."

His answer obviously took a load off Emily's mind, but she didn't know how to react to his praise. "You've impressed him, by the way", she said eventually, "He just told me that he was happy he's given it a try and that you've shown imposing talents that are going to help the others greatly once you'll join them on their missions."

Loki huffed. "Honestly, since his own talent is limited to the construction of robots, I think his impression is earned quite easily."

Emily chuckled. "Yeah, sure, play it down."

"Oh, I would never play down my inexpressible, astonishing, prodigious, exceptional -"

"Okay, okay", Emily laughed out, "You are simply amazing, I get it!"

"I am glad to hear that you acknowledge my superiority."

They were both grinning, and Emily leaned back in her chair, finally relaxing. "How did the meetings go?"

Loki smiled. "Surprisingly good. They are neither as eligible nor as disorganized as I had been dreading. With a modicum of aid, they might even be able to function properly as the group of saviours they claim to be."

Emily chortled. "I am sure Tony was happy to hear that."

"I would not go so far as to say that." Loki looked quite satisfied with himself and took a sip of coffee. He grinned at Emily. "It is drinkable now."

When they had finished their coffee, Emily had to get back to work and Loki decided to go into the training rooms. He was in a great mood and caught himself humming quietly while he was walking down the long corridors of the tower. He didn't know why he was suddenly so good-humoured; it was strange, really - he hadn't felt so relaxed in days.

Well, maybe Thor had been right once in his life - maybe coffee really was a great thing.

It certainly had an amazing impact on Loki's mood, after all.

 


	6. A Mere, Mortal Worm

"You cannot be serious."

"Dead serious, Lucy."

Loki's eyes narrowed. "Are you truly that desperate for my companionship? Or do you simply not trust me enough to let me work without your surveillance?"

Tony sighed. "Neither. What would be your suggestion?"

Loki threw his hands up in an exasperated manner. "Anyone but you!"

It had been almost a month since Loki had started to attend the Avengers meetings and Tony wanted to "get serious", as he called it. He wanted to improve their offensive strategy and separate all of them into pairings of two who would be fighting together in battles. Loki had supported the idea - until he'd heard that Tony wanted to team up with Loki himself, that was.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Well, let's see. We have Thor, your adoptive brother, with whom you share a very difficult background story of family twists and mutual murder attempts. Then there's Barton, who's still waiting for an opportunity to kill you and let it look like an accident ever since you've turned him into a blue-eyed zombie; and Romanov - same story. Who else is there? Oh right, Cap, now _he's_ really fond of you; I'm sure you two have a lot to talk about, your mutual hobby to freeze to ice, for example, or how you killed his biggest fan and friend Phil Cou -"

"Fine!" Loki snapped, "Fine, I will take you."

"Oh, how lucky I am!" Tony exclaimed, putting both hands over his heart and fluttering his eyelashes in Loki's direction.

Loki shot him a warning glare. "Cease this infantile behaviour at once, Stark."

"Look", Tony said, suddenly becoming serious, "Your combat partner should be somebody you trust, somebody you know you can rely on. The others agreed on attending meetings and exercising with you, but neither of them trusts you enough to take you as a partner, and if your partner doesn't trust you and vice versa, things can get really ugly in a battle."

Loki eyed him. "And you do trust me?"

"Not as much as I'd like to. But I trust you not to kill me and I don't plan to kill you either." Tony shrugged. "That's got to be good enough for now."

"Brilliant."

Tony grinned. "You're going to enjoy my company sooner or later."

Loki huffed. "Highly unlikely."

When he left Tony's office a moment later, Emily stumbled into him and lost her balance. Loki caught her right before she could fall down and lifted her up effortlessly.

"Careful, little one", he smirked, and Emily grinned.

"Thank you. I'm not that little, though."

Loki snorted. "That depends on who you are comparing yourself with." He eyed her up and down. "Are you ill?"

Emily frowned. "No, why?"

"You look pale."

She shrugged. "I didn't sleep well."

"I see. Hurry up with the Iron Idiot, then, I shall await you with a cappuccino."

Having a cappuccino together after Emily's matutinal meetings with Stark had become a habit between her and Loki over the last weeks, and they both enjoyed this part of their daily routine.

Emily smiled. "Sounds good."

When she entered Tony's office and closed the door behind her, the billionaire raised his brows.

"You know, considering I'm your boss and everything, you could at least tell your best buddy to stop calling me Iron Idiot."

Emily opened her mouth for an answer when Loki suddenly appeared out of thin air beside her.

"Not going to happen, Stark", he said while Emily shrieked and flinched, tripping over her own feet by doing so. Again, Loki caught her mid-air.

"Is this going to be another hobby of yours?" Loki teased, still holding her.

Emily huffed. "If you could stop scaring the hell out of me, I could stop tumbling."

Loki grinned slyly. "But then I would have to stop catching you, too, and I enjoy doing so."

Emily blushed and wriggled out of his arms.

The god was still grinning. "You need to stop falling down for the next hour or so, because I am going to leave you two alone now and I do not expect our Iron Idiot to be as quick and valiant as I am."

And he was gone.

Tony had crossed his arms. "Anything you want to tell me, Emily?"

She turned around and looked at him, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you two seem to become terribly close, I was just wondering -"

Emily's eyes widened. "We're just friends, Tony!"

"What about all this flirting, then?"

"Come on, you know him. That's just how he is, mischievous, flirtatious -"

Tony grinned. He didn't tell her, but actually, Loki only acted like this when he was around Emily.

"Well, still - maybe I should have a talk with your boyfriend -"

Emily went pale. "Please don't!"

"Relax, girlie, that was a joke!" Tony laughed out. "Anyways, I do have to admit that you do him good. He's become much more - human, lately."

Emily chortled. "Please, please let me be around when you tell him that."

 

 

* * *

 

 

  
After Loki had left Tony's office, he decided to use the next hour for a little training session. When he entered the training room, his eyes widened.

"Do you like it, brother?" Thor's voice roared beside him, and he could feel his brother's hand on his shoulder.

He turned around. "What in the norns - this is asgardian equipment, how -?"

Thor beamed. "Emily watched me exercise a few days ago, and she said she was impressed with my strength and how this earthly equipment doesn't seem sufficient for my training." He smiled proudly. "She told me that I could bring something from home."

Loki couldn't suppress a grin. "She did? Now that's nice of her."

"She was right, too. Want to give it a try?"

"Are you challenging me?"

Thor laughed. "If you dare to compete agai - hey!"

Loki had grabbed a lance and thrown it at Thor, who caught it in the air and threw it aside. "That wasn't fair, I -"

He fell to the ground when Loki attacked him, and the next second they were both wallowing on the ground.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

"You are brilliant", Loki stated as soon as Emily was walking into the common room an hour later.

He and Thor had fought eagerly for the last hour, and he had enjoyed the training more than he'd admit. It wasn't just the asgardian equipment that allowed him much more liberties in using his abilities but also the training with his brother that he had enjoyed. It had almost felt like home, and it had reminded him of their youth when he and Thor had used to exercise together almost every day. He had almost regretted to abandon the training so early, but he didn't want to let Emily down, and Thor had promised him a rematch in the afternoon.

"I am?" Emily said surprised, and Loki grinned at her.

"You are. Thor just showed me our new equipment."

Emily sat down at the table where Loki had already placed two cups of cappuccino. She smiled at Loki's cheerful expression.

"Do you like it?"

"Indeed. You, mylady, are a genius."

Emily chuckled. "Finally someone who acknowledges my great mind", she joked, and Loki grinned.

"I do, believe me." He hesitated, then said "Thank you, Emily."

She looked down, slightly embarrassed. "You're welcome."

"Am I welcome, too?"

Loki turned around at the sound of the unfamiliar voice.

"Nick!" Emily exclaimed and leaped up to hurry towards the door. "What are you doing here?"

The man standing in the door was tall and quite handsome, he had clear-cut features, blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He gave Emily a hug.

"Aren't you happy to see me?"

"Of course I am", she said hastily, "I was just surprised -"

"I thought I'd visit you."

The guy stepped into the common room, his arm still wrapped around Emily's waist, and looked around, then settled his gaze on Loki.

"Oh", Emily said, suddenly sounding nervous, "Sorry - Nick, that's Loki, Loki, Nick is -"

"Her boyfriend", Nick interrupted her and approached Loki.

Loki rose from his chair casually and put out his hand. "It is a pleasure to meet you."

Nick shook his hand firmly. "Likewise", he said and smiled. "Emily is so happy at her new job, I thought I'd step by and meet her workmates."

Loki returned the smile. "Truth be told, we do not really work together; we only spend our breaks together."

"I see", Nick said, his smile slightly frostier than before. He sat down at the table and both Loki and Emily followed him, Emily taking the seat next to Nick.

"Loki", Nick repeated slowly and frowned, "Loki... Weren't you the guy that attacked us three years ago?"

Loki furrowed his brows and glanced over at Emily, who was wriggling uncomfortably on her chair. He was surprised, a little hurt even, that she hadn't told her boyfriend about him.

"I am", he said calmly, "I have surrendered myself to the responsible authorities, though, been held accountable for my actions and am currently serving my sentence."

Nick raised his brows. "By drinking coffee with pretty women?"

Loki breathed in deeply to suppress his anger. If this had been anybody else, he wouldn't have allowed him to speak to him like this, but this was Emily's boyfriend and he didn't want to get her into an awkward position. He also suspected that it would have some kind of impact on their friendship if he were to murder her boyfriend.

"He is supporting the Avengers", Emily said nervously, "This is just the time we both - take a break and - well, and have a coffee."

Nick nodded slowly and took a sip of Emily's cappuccino. Loki swallowed another wave of anger. He looked at Emily who was gazing  at the ground.

"Shall I make you a new coffee?" he asked, his voice slightly strained, and Nick shot him a glare before he looked at Emily, too.

"I'm so sorry", he said sweetly, "I will get you a new one."

When he disappeared into the kitchen, Emily looked up at Loki.

"I'm so sorry", she whispered, and he furrowed his brows.

"What exactly are you apologizing for?"

"Well, Nick is - he's -"

"He's a moron."

Emily shook her head, looking tense. "He's just worried about me, I guess -"

Nick returned to the table, planted a kiss on Emily's head and placed a mug in front of her. Loki raised a brow when he noticed that he had made her a black coffee.

"Thank you", Emily said.

Nick smiled and put his arm around her again. "Where is everybody else?" he asked, "I'd love to meet the Avengers. And your boss, in particular."

"He's in a meeting with S.H.I.E.L.D. Most of the Avengers are there, too. I don't know when -"

Nick tilted his head to the side and looked at Loki. "How come you're not invited?"

Loki smiled coldly. "I am not considerably fond of S.H.I.E.L.D. and this feeling happens to be mutual. Tony thought it wiser if I did not join those particular meetings." He eyed Nick. "What is your occupation, if I may ask?"

"I am the CEO in one of the leading agencies for global digital marketing. What is yours?"

"I am the prince of Asgard and god of mischief."

Nick's brows furrowed. "Excuse me?"

Loki gave him an icy smile. "Consider yourself excused."

Emily, who looked more and more distressed, decided to cut in. "Wouldn't you like to see more of my workplace, Nick?"

"Sure, sweetheart."

He rose from his chair and gave Loki a short nod. Loki, who had also stood up, took a mocking bow in his direction. Nick left the room without another look back, and Emily turned to follow him, but hesitated and turned back around to give Loki an apologetic look. She opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, Nick called her from the corridor.

"Are you coming, sweetheart?"

She mouthed a "See you later" and hurried after him.

Loki noticed that she hadn't even touched her black coffee.

He looked at the door, deeply irritated by the human that he had just met. He had imagined Emily's boyfriend to be totally different. Nice, affectionate, open-minded - much like herself. But this guy was most unappealing. He was uncorteous and conceitful, and he had treated Emily without any of the respect she deserved. Loki cordially disliked him.

Completely lost in his thoughts, he didn't even notice when Thor entered the room after a while. It wasn't until the god of thunder sat down opposite of Loki that he looked up.

"What's wrong brother, you look stressed."

"It's nothing", Loki said absent-mindedly.

Thor grinned. "You're still annoyed that I beat you?"

Loki huffed. "You did not beat me."

"I did too."

"Shut up."

Thor nodded, obviously pleased with himself.

"Whose coffee is that?" he asked, and Loki rolled his eyes.

"Help yourself."

Thor gulped half of it down. "Hey", he said then, "Who was the guy with Emily?"

Loki huffed. "Her idiotic boyfriend."

"You don't like him?"

Loki shot his brother a glare. "Pray tell, brother, what betrayed me?"

Thor rolled his eyes. "You want to tell me now or not?"

"There is nothing to tell. You saw him yourself, did you not?"

The blonde god frowned. "Well, he seemed nice to me."

Now it was Loki's turn to roll his eyes. "Maybe that's because you are just as much of an idiot as he is."

"Hey!"

Loki fell silent for a minute, then said "He is presumptuous, conceited and assumptive."

Thor raised a brow. "Where's the difference between you and him, then?"

"I am serious."

"So am I, brother." Thor watched him thoughtfully, then said, "Could you be jealous?"

Loki snorted. "Jealous? Of a mere mortal worm? Why would I?"

Thor sighed. "Because this mere mortal worm spends his nights with your girl. Really, for someone who claims to be of superior intelligence -"

"You're being ridiculous, Thor. Emily is not my _girl_ , we are nothing but friends."

Thor shrugged. "Well, shouldn't you accept your friend's choice of boyfriend then?"

"I would, if I thought him good enough for her."

Again, Thor sighed. "Whatever."

"He also talked about his occupation and it sounded highly suspicious to me."

"What is his occupation?"

Loki shook his head slowly. "I have no idea."

Thor eyed his brother incredulously. Eventually, he decided to change the subject. "Well, brother, what about a rematch, then? You look like you could need somebody to wreak your anger on."

Loki thought about his offer for a second, then grinned. "Fine. Let us go."

Of course it was ridiculous to assume that he was jealous; there was nothing to be jealous of, but he had to admit that he did feel kind of tense, even though he couldn't explain it. Anyways, a fight with Thor to release his irritating feelings sounded just perfect.

And there was no way, he thought fiercely, that Thor would beat him this time - not with this furiously roaring monster that he could feel raging inside of his chest and that was fighting desperately to break free.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On a scale from Loki to Nick, how much do you like Nick? :D


	7. Everything Is Alright

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for every feedback, I'm so thrilled every time I see a new comment, kudos or subscription! As I said, this is my first try at writing fanfiction, and I was scared shitless that nobody would like it. I hope you enjoy the new chapter, too!

When Emily didn't show up for their coffee break the next day, Loki began to worry about her. After waiting for more than half an hour, he decided to go to Stark and ask him if she had come to work at all. When he knocked on his door and entered, Tony stared at him, utterly surprised.

"Since when do you knock?"

Loki raised his shoulders. "That was unintentional. It will not happen again."

"Good. It is disturbing to see you acting all polite." Tony grinned, then turned back to his blackboard to scribble something on it.

"I came to ask if Emily showed up for work today."

Tony turned around again. "Sure. Haven't seen her yet?"

Loki glared at him. "Oh, of course I have. I have spent the entire morning with her and now I decided to come around to ask if she was present."

"Okay, okay, calm down, Snowflake. She came in very early today, actually. She seemed a little stressed, maybe she's busy."

Loki was torn between relief at hearing that Emily was obviously perfectly fine and concern because she hadn't come to their coffee break.

"I see. Thank you."

Tony gave Loki a questioning look. "Is something the matter?"

"No, most likely not." Loki hesitated. "Did you meet Emily's boyfriend yesterday?"

"Nick? Yeah. Nice guy."

Loki raised his eyebrows, and so did Tony after a second. "What, you didn't like him?"

"I did not."

A smile played around the corners of Tony's lips. "Surprise."

Loki shot him a glare. "What are you trying to say?"

Tony shrugged. "Nick's a nice, successful and handsome young man and he's obviously smitten with Emily. Maybe that last part is why you don't like him."

Loki huffed. "By the norns, did you happen to have a talk with my brother?"

"Nah. But if he told you the same, you might want to think about it."

Loki turned around on his heels and left the room, leaving a grinning Tony Stark behind.

This was _ridiculous._ Tony and Thor were both idiots if they couldn't see what he had seen in Nick. It wasn't just his arrogant, thoughtless behaviour that bothered him, it was the way Emily has acted when he has been around. She has been tense, nervous; not at all the lighthearted, witty girl that Loki had come to know over the last weeks.

Loki was lost in his thoughts when he pressed the elevator button. He decided to go to the common room again; maybe Emily was there now. When he left the elevator and looked up to see Emily at the end of the corridor, he found himself struggling to contain the sudden feeling of overwhelming joy.

He was about to call for her when he noticed that she was busy kicking a peculiar bulky machine that was placed at her feet. Loki furrowed his brows, watching silently when Emily pressed a button on the machine that Loki had never seen before and that he could only assume to be some kind of ancient entertainment electronics. When it started to wail, Emily grunted, kicked it again and seemed to hurt her foot in doing so. She jumped up and down, crying out in pain.

"Goddammit, you fucking son of a bitch!"

Loki, who had been watching her with raised brows and folded arms, couldn't suppress a chuckle.

Emily wheeled around and almost lost her balance.

"Oh, hi", she said, smiling faintly.

Loki gestured at the squealing machine. "Do you require my assistance?"

Emily snorted. "What, do I look like I needed any?"

Loki looked at the machine that had just started to rattle.

"Most certainly, yes."

She sighed. "This shitty vacuum cleaner just won't work. I guess it's because it's as old as the hills; I mean, it's not like we're a company known for its high tech folderol, right, so why invest a few dollars in -"

Loki interrupted her. "Mortal, I barely understand half of what you are saying."

Emily stared at him, disbelief written over her face. "Did you just call me _mortal? Seriously?_ So what, should I call you _god_ from now on?"

"I cannot deny that this would please me immensely."

Emily huffed. "Yeah, keep on dreaming."

He cocked his head. "You seem quite tense."

Emily sighed, kicked against the vacuum cleaner again to turn it off, and leaned against the wall, running her fingers through her curly hair.

"Sorry. I have a lot to do today."

"I figured so much when you missed our obligatory coffee break."

The young woman's eyes widened. "Is it already so late?" She pulled out her mobile phone to check the time and then looked back at Loki. "I'm so sorry!"

"No need for that. But what could possibly be important enough for you to miss out on your cappuccino?" Loki asked and smirked when he added, "And my company?"

"I'm really so-" Loki shot her an amused glance, and Emily interrupted her apology with reddened cheeks. "I just have a lot to do today, I didn't realize it was so late."

"Is the abuse of this odd machine one of your duties?"

Emily sighed. "I was actually trying to get this odd machine to do its job rather than abuse it, but it looks like it's broken."

Loki eyed the machine carefully. "What is it supposed to do?"

"Oh, sorry, that's a vacuum cleaner. It - um - kind of - sucks in the dirt to clean the floors."

Loki furrowed his brows. "That is indeed odd." Then he looked back at Emily in disbelief. "Why in Odin's name are you cleaning the floors? Does Stark seriously ask you for that?"

Emily blushed and she suddenly looked slightly nervous. "No", she murmured, "Not exactly. But yes, kind of."

"That did not make any sense at all."

"Well - didn't I tell you a while ago that I was looking for a new cleaning company?"

Loki nodded.

Emily bowed her head in shame. "Well, I messed up."

"How so?"

The young woman struggled with herself and then blurted out, "The old company has already left, and I was supposed to meet and instruct the new one yesterday in the afternoon, but I'm an idiot and completely forgot the appointment, because - well, never mind - so the company's person in charge was waiting for me yesterday, but I never showed up. And now she's so pissed off that she won't send her staff here - and so -"

"So Stark told you to clean up yourself?" Loki interrupted her rambling rather surprised.

"No, of course not - but I didn't want to admit that I messed up, so - I didn't tell him."

Loki's eyes widened in amusement. "And now you plan to clean the entire tower yourself so Stark won't notice the lack of housemaids?"

Emily nodded, looking rather desperate.

Loki suppressed a laugh. "Emily, that is ridiculous. This tower is huge. There must have been dozens of maids working for the last company. You are one person, and a mortal one, too. You cannot take care of that yourself. Besides, you surely have other responsibilities to take care of."

"I was here early to get everything done."

"You would have to be able to _multiply yourself_ to get everything done. I suggest that you call this company or look for another one and in the meantime, you should tell Stark that you made a -"

He fell silent and looked at Emily with an expression of sheer horror on his face when she suddenly broke out in tears.

"I'm - I'm sorry", she sobbed out, "I just can't - can't believe I forgot the appointment - I mean, how stupid am I -"

Loki gazed at her, utterly helpless. He had spent quite a lot of time with this girl in the last few weeks, but never had he seen her like this before. He had no idea why she was bashing herself over something so mundane.

"Emily", he said carefully, "What is -"

"I'm so stupid", she blubbered out, "I'm too worthless to manage something as simple as hiring new cleaners -"

"Emily!" Loki said, louder this time, and she winced. "You will stop beating yourself up right now! What in the nine realms is the matter?"

"I'm - sorry", Emily stuttered, still crying, though she was giving her best to wipe away her tears, "I don't know, I just - I'm so angry at myself, I'm so dumb, how could I -"

"- forget something? Emily, that can happen to anybody. Why are you so hard on yourself?"

Emily shook her head, wiping her nose with her sleeve, and Loki tried to hide the mildly disgusted expression on his face when he conjured up a handkerchief to give to her.

"Thank you", she sobbed out, and Loki hesitated for a second, eyeing her with uncertainty in his eyes, before he finally did what he'd wanted to do ever since the first tears had started running down her face - he pulled her in his arms. Emily stiffened for a split second but then wrapped her arms around his body and pressed her face against his leather armour, crying into his chest.

"Everything is alright, little one", Loki soothed, gently rubbing over her back, "It's okay. Do not worry, sweet one."

Emily closed her eyes and inhaled slowly. Somehow Loki's low, quiet voice calmed her down and his scent made her feel safe and protected.

For a few minutes they were just standing there. Loki held her in his arms, stroking over her head and whispering soothing words into her ear, and Emily savoured the feeling of shelter that he gave her. When they moved apart, Emily looked up at Loki.

"Thank you", she whispered, and Loki smiled softly at her.

"You are very welcome."

Emily wiped her wet cheeks with the handkerchief that Loki had given her.

"I don't know what's wrong with me", she murmured, "I'm so sorry you had to -"

"Emily, if you are going to apologize one more time -"

She let out a shaky laugh. "I'm just - my nerves are just raw today. I didn't sleep well, and - I don't know."

"Maybe you are suffering severe withdrawal symptoms from your sudden lack of coffee", Loki suggested teasingly, and Emily grinned.

"Or from the sudden lack of my daily dose of Loki", she joked, and Loki chuckled.

"Well, we should do something against both possible issues."

Emily looked down at the vacuum cleaner. "I don't know -"

Loki shook his head. "But I do. Just let me take care of this particular problem, will you?"

"But how -"

"Just leave that to me. For now, it is time for our coffee break." He took Emily's arm and grinned at her. "Hold on to me."

She frowned. "Why shou-"

For a second she felt as if she was somehow dragged through cold water, and when she opened her eyes again to find herself standing  in the common room with Loki still at her side, she gasped. It took her a moment to process what had just happened. When she did, her excitement lit up her entire face.

"Holy shit! Did you just teleport us?"

Loki smiled. He was delighted to see the bright smile that he had grown accustomed to return to her face. "I did."

"Oh my god!"

"Exactly."

Emily laughed out and gave his chest a playful slap. "My god, that's so amazing! Can you teleport anywhere you want?"

"Yes, I can."

Loki chuckled at her expression. He had forgotten how easily impressed mortals were. They weren't used to any kind of supernatural abilities, he remembered.

Emily stared at him, her face still slightly wet, but now shining with excitement. "Are you kidding me? You mean, if you wanted to go to - um - _Paris_ now -"

Loki grinned. "Hold on tightly."

Emily gasped at the strange feeling that lasted for a few more seconds this time. When it was over, she opened her eyes, looked around with furrowed brows and then shrieked in delight when she recognized the Eiffel Tower in front of them.

" _Oh my god, Loki!_ "

"It is _mon dieu_ in french, _ma chère_."

Loki couldn't stop grinning. It had pained him to see this kind and for a mortal certainly extraordinary woman debase herself, and even though he couldn't explain the reason behind his sudden sentimentality, but to see her smile again somehow meant the world to him. Even if they had to travel it for that.

"What do you think, shall we have a café au lait today?" he suggested.

Emily squeaked.

"I will take that as a yes."

Loki linked arms with Emily and walked down the street with her while she couldn't stop staring at the tower, the people and the foreign streets. Everything felt so unreal to her and she almost expected to wake up every other minute to realize that it had been nothing but a dream.

When they both sat down in a café and Loki ordered two cappuccini and two croissants in perfect french, Emily shook her head in disbelief.

"Loki... you are amazing."

"Modesty does not suit me very well, but I have to admit that in my world, this is really nothing special."

"In my world it is", Emily said, smiling at him. "Thank you. I mean it."

Loki returned her smile. They sat in silence for a moment, while Emily marveled at the foreign city, still struggling to believe that she was actually in _Paris_ right now.

"Et voilà, bon appétit!"

The waitress smiled as she put down the mugs and plates in front of them. Emily and Loki said "Merci" simultaneously and they both laughed out. Emily took the cup of coffee and inhaled the scent deeply.

"This is incredible."

They both took a sip of their coffee, silently watching the people passing them by on the sunny streets.

"Loki", Emily said after a moment, "I wanted to apologize. Nick was really rude yesterday."

He looked at her, uncertain of what he should say to that.

"I know you don't like him. And yes, he was a moron yesterday. But he really is a good guy. Trust me. I mean, he's done so much for me, and - I have no idea where I would be now if it wasn't for him. Sometimes he's just a little - overprotective. I think he was worried when he saw you; I mean, he doesn't know you like I do."

She looked at him, almost pleadingly, and Loki decided to keep his opinion of her wormlike boyfriend to himself, at least for a while longer. She obviously had a bad day and he didn't want to make it even worse, especially not now when he had just managed to cheer her up.

"Do not worry, everything is alright", he said, "And please stop apologizing. I assume that Nick was in a bad mood yesterday. I am sure once we come to know each other, he and I will get along just fine, you will see."

There was a reason he was called the god of lies.

But Emily beamed at him, and that, he thought, was absolutely worth the lie.


	8. Loki, Hero Of The Humans

The feeling of cold water surrounding her flowed through Emily again, and when she opened her eyes, she and Loki were back in the common room.

"What the hell?"

Loki turned around when he heard Tony's voice behind them. The billionaire was standing in the kitchen with a glass of something that Loki could only assume to be whiskey in his hand, and he was gaping at Emily and Loki who had just appeared out of nowhere right in front of him.

"Hello, Stark", Loki said nonchalantly.

"Where the hell have you two - what are you thinking, teleporting Emily -"

"Calm down, Stark. Emily and I just had our coffee break. Since this tower becomes most dreary after a while, we decided to have a coffee somewhere else."

"And you couldn't have taken a cab for that?"

"Most certainly not."

Emily giggled, causing Stark to shake his head.

"I knew you would ruin her", he muttered. Then he looked at Emily. "Blink twice if he holds you captive somehow."

She smirked, widening her eyes as much as she could. "Sorry, Tony."

"That was my last hope." Tony sighed, emptied his glass and looked at Loki. "Your brother was looking for you. He said something about a rematch."

Loki nodded. "Very well. Oh, but before I go - Emily, could I use the - ah - telephone in your office for a brief phone call?"

"Sure."

He hesitated for a second, then added rather sheepishly, "I might require your assistance for an instruction on how to actually make a phone call, too."

She chuckled. "Come with me."

Loki saluted Tony mockingly, then gestured at the door and implied a bow in Emily's direction. "After you, mademoiselle."

Emily strutted through the door with her head raised as high as she possibly could and replied, "Merci beaucoup, monsieur!"

They left the common room snickering. Neither of them noticed how Tony's gaze followed them or how he murmured, "Just friends my ass."

 

 

* * *

 

 

"I hear you are looking for me?"

Thor looked up at Loki. "Brother! Where have you been?"

Loki shrugged. "The usual. First Paris, then making a few phone calls, and now I am here."

"Paris? Wait - phone calls?"

Loki grinned at his brother. "As I said."

Thor seemed to think hard for a second, then shrugged and said "I suppose I don't even want to know. Listen, I was actually looking for you to ask you for a rematch, but I met Stark and - well, he wanted to talk about you -"

"Oh dear. What have I done now? How deep in trouble am I?"

"Could you be serious for once?"

Loki cocked his head slightly, still grinning mischievously. "I could try, but I would fail."

Thor sighed. "Whatever. So, Stark said -"

"- that I am an insufferable imposition?"

"- that you're about to become a valuable and appreciated ally."

Loki stared at him. "I beg your pardon?"

"Oh, now we can be serious, can we?"

"Is this an attempt to mock me?"

Thor shook his head. "I'm serious. Stark said that he is pleasantly surprised. He actually regrets not incorporating you sooner and he said that he could even imagine you to become a full member of the Avengers in the long run." When Loki didn't say anything, his brother grinned. "Lost for words, really?"

Loki snorted. Then he asked, "And why did Stark tell you that?"

Thor looked at him, now a more serious expression on his face again. "He still has trouble with the rest of the team. If you're ever going to become a real part of the Avengers, Stark should integrate you into the team as soon as possible. But that's not going to work as long as they don't trust you, and they will never trust you as long as they don't know you properly. So Stark wanted to know if I could ask you to be a bit more - er - socializing."

Loki let out a huff. "What, does he want me to make friends?

"Well, yeah."

"Forget it, Thor."

Thor frowned. "Why?"

"I am by far the last person anybody here wants to be friends with."

"Stark says he's getting along with you much better already, and Emily definitely -"

Loki interrupted him. "Emily is something entirely different. She is - well, I have no idea what she is. I do not know why she seems to appreciate my companionship, actually. There might be something wrong with her, or - stop grinning, Thor, will you?"

Thor chuckled. "I could try, but I would fail."

"Oh, very clever." Loki shot him a glare.

"Seriously, Loki. Why don't you at least try? If you could let the rest of the Avengers see what you let Emily see, what I've seen almost all my life and what even Tony Stark begins to see in you, you might find out that it's actually more gratifying to be trusted and liked instead of dreaded and despised."

Before Loki could give a snappy retort, Thor had already quit the room and left his brother standing there alone, staring at the door with an irritated and thoughtful frown on his face.

 

 

* * *

 

 

When Emily came into the common room the next morning to see two cups of coffee standing on the table, she raised an eyebrow. "What, no journey to Europe today?"

Loki chuckled. "Not at all demanding, I see."

She grinned. "Give somebody an inch and he will take a mile."

"You are asking for 3500 miles, my dear."

Emily laughed. "I guess I'm special."

"Obviously."

She smiled. "I'm just kidding. Thank you for the coffee."

"I even made a cappuccino", Loki couldn't deny himself to say.

Emily stuck out her tongue. "That was an accident. Nick knows I don't like black coffee. Oh", she suddenly exclaimed, "I almost forgot - Tony just told me that the manager of the cleaning company called him this morning. She said her company would be happy to work for us and apparently she couldn't stop gushing over his adorable, charming assistant, too -"

Loki grinned.

Emily shook her head in disbelief. "How on earth did you do that?"

"Well, I am not called Silvertongue for nothing."

She frowned. "Is that what your mysterious phone call was about?"

"Indeed."

"God, Loki, thank you so, so much!"

Loki made a dismissive hand movement. "You are most welcome."

"That woman was so pissed off that I haven't been there the day before - I never expected her to consider working with us anymore!"

"She had not planned to. But I can be quite convincing. She awaits your call to discuss the details of the contract in the next days, but they are going to start working today in the afternoon."

Emily smiled and let out a long sigh. "God, thank you. I really owe you."

The god shook his head. "You do not. If anything, we are even now."

When she frowned, Loki grinned. "Did I forget to mention that Stark told Thor that he's considering to make me an Avenger?"

Emily's eyes widened. "Oh my god, that's amazing!"

"I suppose, yes."

"That doesn't sound very excited."

Loki sighed. "Well, there are certain difficulties to face in this. To begin with, the other Avengers beside Thor and Stark are still not very fond of me. For us all to actually function properly as a troop, we would have to be able to trust and rely on each other."

Emily nodded. "Sounds reasonable. Maybe you should try to get to know them better. Do you ever spend time with anyone apart from the regular meetings? I mean beside Thor?"

"Yes, of course", Loki said, irritated.

"Great, who is it?"

"You."

Emily snorted. "I meant, anyone who is an Avenger."

"Oh. Then no."

"Not great."

Loki grinned.

"Maybe you should try that. Just have a coffee with someone sometimes. Just talk to them."

"Woman, I am a god. Are you seriously attempting to teach me how to make friends now?"

Emily laughed. "Well, god or not, you don't seem to be an expert."

Loki huffed, and Emily furrowed her brows. "So what are the other difficulties?"

"Well, the plan was to spend some time here to make up for - well, you know, my attempt of conquering your world. But - well, I am a god, I am a prince of Asgard. I certainly never wished to ensconce myself in Midgard and I deem affiliating myself to their troop of saviours might result in it."

Emily shrugged. "Well, maybe you could like it here. From what you've told me, you haven't been too happy whilst living in Asgard, so why don't you give a life in Mid- on Earth a shot? And by the way, Thor is an Avenger, and he's still a god and a prince of Asgard, why couldn't that work for you too?"

Loki huffed. "Thor is also courting a mere mortal woman. He clearly has no standards."

Emily raised a brow, taken aback. "Well, thank you."

"Oh - I - I meant no disrespect -"

"Yeah, it sounded very respectful."

Emily took a sip of her coffee and smiled, and Loki could tell that he had hurt her somehow, even if she tried to mask it with a smile.

"I apologize", he said sincerely, "You are so - exceptional - that I sometimes forget that you are a mortal."

Emily frowned. "I'm not sure if this is a compliment to me or an insult to my race."

"Both, be assured of that."

She snorted with laughter, and Loki eyed her carefully. "I was merely jesting, Emily."

"I know." She grinned. "But the joke's gonna be on you when you're going to live here with us mere mortals as the famous Avenger Loki, hero of the humans."

Loki grunted. "You are cruel."

"Oh, please. If I wanted to be cruel I would tell you how you won't be able to leave the tower without a bulk of screaming fangirls following you."

When she saw the look of utter disgust on Loki's face, Emily laughed out. "You totally deserved that one. I'm going back to work now. Should I already arrange a few things? Photo shootings, signing sessions, public performances with you and Thor?"

Loki had to hold back a grin. "Do you remember how I promised you that I would let you know if I ever changed my intentions on not killing you?"

Emily giggled. "The day has come, hasn't it?"

"You should really start to run, my dear."


	9. Nothing But An Alien Monster

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all your kind feedback!  
> This chapter is a little more serious than the previous ones, but I hope you still enjoy it.

"No way."

Natasha crossed her arms and glared at Tony, who let out a deep sigh.

"Can't you look at this in a reasonable way for once?

"Oh sure, I can. So should I team up with a mass murderer who's threatened me with forcing my best friend to kill me? Er - no! Because it would be _highly unreasonable_!"

"Natasha, that was more than three years ago. He was kind of possessed, he regrets it, what else can he do?"

"Go back where he belongs to."

"Come on -"

Over the last weeks, Tony had developed a new training plan for the team, and while the combat teams were not to be changed, the training partners were supposed to change monthly. The official reason for it was to be more flexible, to bring all the members closer to each other, and while both had surely played a part in his decision, the main reason for the changing partners had been to finally integrate Loki into the team. It had been a great idea - at least on paper. Everytime they would exchange partners again, Loki would be teaming up with somebody else, giving both him and his new partner a way to get to know each other. Unfortunately, almost everybody refused to try teaming up with Loki. So much for the theory.  
  
"No, Stark. Just no."

Tony emptied his whiskey glass. "Listen. Vader already had Blondie as his training partner for the last month. Now it's time for his second one and every single one of you fucking refuses to give him a try! It's _just a try_! Would it hurt you to give him one last chance?"

"It might even kill me."

"Don't be ridiculous! It's just training! Besides", he added, "As far as I know, you might very well be dead _without_ him now."

The redhead shot him an angry glare and then shook her head. "Team me up with whoever you want, but not with the alien monster."

She left Stark's office without another word and stumbled into Loki, who had been on his way to the common room when he'd heard Tony's and Natasha's argument.

"Spying on us now?"

Loki smiled coolly. "I believe that to be your specialty."

"Frosty, come in", Tony called out, and Loki shot the widow a last glare and entered Tony's office. "Can't you at least try to be friendly?"

Loki raised a brow. "I did."

"Well, great."

"Still no volunteers for the vacant training partner appointment?"

Tony sat down on his desk and shook his head. "I feel like a goddamn kindergartener. Except that my kindergarten is a special one for moody murderers."

Loki grinned. " _The Moody Murderers._ A much more befitting name for us."

Tony chortled, then raised a brow. "Did you just say _us?_ "

"Maybe."

"You really need to earn the others' trust then. If this training partner thing doesn't work, I swear I'm going to call a fucking therapist and have a group counseling."

Loki furrowed his brows. "That does not sound helpful."

Tony shrugged. "Pepper forced me to go to a support group when I had a drinking problem, they did actually help me with that." He emptied his whiskey glass with a single gulp and then caught Loki's slightly amused look. "What?"

 

 

* * *

 

 

Loki wandered down the corridor to the common room with slow, thoughtful steps. He had planned to go there and read one of the books that Emily had recommended him, but the encounter with the widow had somehow put him off.

He's been in this tower for more than a year now, he had spent a considerable amount of time in meetings and training sessions with the others, yet the only thing the widow and no doubt everybody else saw in him was _the alien monster that should go back where he belongs_.

He shook his head at the thought. Back where he belongs? Where _did_ he belong? He never truly belonged to Asgard and he certainly didn't belong to Jotunheim. It might have been foolish to even consider the possibility of belonging to Midgard.

A week ago he had joined the Avengers on a mission for the first time. It had been nothing complicated, really, just a minor alien attack, but he had enjoyed it so much to finally fight again, to be useful, to do what he was best at. And he had done a good job, he knew that. He had actually saved both Barton's and the widow's life when they had almost been shattered to pieces by a part of the exploding alien space ship. A tiny part of him had hoped that this might have been enough to prove them his value and he had felt a pang of disappointment when Barton had hissed "This doesn't change a thing" after their return.

No, it hadn't changed a thing, and he was starting to wonder if it might have been foolish to except that there was anything at all that he could do that would _ever_ change what the others were seeing in him.

 _Nothing will change that_ , a voice whispered inside of his head, _because it is the truth. You are nothing but_ _an alien monster. An alien monster that plays superhero for a while, but still an alien monster._

Loki ran his hands through his hair. What had he been thinking, expecting the others to see more in him? What had Stark and Thor been thinking?

He was too lost in his own dark thoughts to notice that he was unintentionally walking into the common room. When he looked up and realized where he was, he was about to turn around and leave to go to his own place instead - until he suddenly noticed two cups of coffee standing on the table.

"Tadaaa", Emily sang and he turned around to look into the kitchen. "You're just in time!"

Loki frowned. "Is it already time for the coffee break?"

She shrugged. "It's always time for a coffee break."

He narrowed his eyes. "How did you know I was about to come here?"

"I didn't. I just hoped for the best." She grinned. "If you hadn't come, I'd be drinking both cappuccini myself now, no problem."

They sat down on the table and Emily eyed him suspiciously. "Is something wrong?"

Loki shook his head. "No, I am fine."

"I may not be a goddess of lies, but even I could tell that that was one."

Loki shot her a glare, half amused, half annoyed. "I shall try to tell more convincing lies from now on."

Emily laughed, then tilted her head to the side. "It's the training partner thing, huh?"

Loki just raised his shoulders.

"They're idiots. Seriously. I talked to every one of them about this matter and I can confirm that they are all _idiots_."

Again, Loki raised his shoulders. "One can hardly blame them. It still surprises me that they agreed on allowing me to attend their meetings, actually. Having me as a training partner... no wonder that this was too much to ask."

A look of anger crossed Emily's face. "Really? When you joined them on their mission, it was not too much to ask of you to save all of their asses, was it? Even Cap had to admit that they'd have been lost without you, and Clint and Natasha would've been dead!"

Loki didn't answer. He knew Emily was right; they would have been lost without him, but on the other hand he truly meant what he had just said. He understood the lack of trust in him, there was no doubt that he deserved it. Who would be foolish enough to trust _an alien monster,_ after all?

"I wish I could help you somehow", Emily sighed, and Loki looked up and smiled.

"You help me more than enough already."

Emily furrowed her brows, clearly confused at what he could possibly mean with that, and Loki cocked his head. Apart from the very obvious favours she had done him - talking Stark into integrating him into the team and tricking Thor into bringing asgardian combat utensils to Midgard - but did she really not know what her company, her friendship meant to him? What she had given him by simply sitting down to drink a coffee with the monster that nobody else would even want to _look_ at? How much it meant to him that a woman like Emily put her trust in a creature like him, so much so that she had even shared her tears with him?

He eyed the girl in front of him thoughtfully, her soft skin with the tiny blemishes in it, her frail body; the typical imperfect fragility of mortal beings, and he felt haunting memories awaken in him. Men, women, children that he had forced to kneel down before him, that he had threatened to kill, that he had actually killed - the look in their eyes before he had murdered them, the scent of desperation and death that had surrounded him - the anguish and loathing in his victim's eyes and the memory of how he had relished every little second of it -

He closed his eyes. It was hardly surprising that the Avengers didn't want him of all people as their ally. He had murdered countless of their fellow beings in gruesome ways. Why should they grant him another chance? What about the people he had killed - have they been granted another chance?

Thor had been right - but he had also been wrong. Yes, it surely was more gratifying to be trusted than to be despised; but no, nobody would ever be able to see something good in him - in him; Loki, the fallen son of Jotunheim and Asgard, the disgrace to the house of Odin, the convicted war criminal, the _alien monster_. Whatever Emily saw in him, she was wrong. Maybe he, desperate for a companion, had unintentionally manipulated her into seeing something in him that he most certainly was not. Or maybe she was simply deranged.

Emily watched Loki who was still staring at her with dark eyes and a hardened face.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked him nervously, "Did I do anything wrong?"

Loki snorted. She couldn't be serious. "No, you didn't. Well, apart from aligning yourself with a monster, maybe."

She gazed at him with widened eyes. "What are you talking about?" she asked carefully.

"What I am talking about? Emily, do you even know what I am? Are you aware of what I've done? If you were, then how could you sit here with me? Why would anyone spend their time with a monstrosity like me?"

Emily stared at him in shock and disbelief. "What the hell are you talking about? Why do you say these things?"

" _Because they are true!_ " Loki shouted, and Emily winced, fear written over her face. He rose from his chair, towering over the table and the girl sitting at it. "I am the man that attacked your city, your planet, your entire race; the man that killed thousands of your fellow beings and attempted to enslave the rest of them -"

"Stop", Emily said, and when Loki didn't listen to her, she raised her voice, "STOP!"

He fell silent.

"Yes, I know you and I know what you've done! And yes, you've done wrong, but you are trying to right the wrong now, and that's the only thing that matters! A monster wouldn't confess a fault and try to amend it. Trust me, I have met quite a few monsters in my life, but they were all human, and you, Loki, are not one of them."

Loki looked at her with a sudden coldness in his gaze that made her tense up immediately. "If I had seen you three years ago, I would have killed you without batting an eyelid, with or without the Mind Stone's influence."

Emily felt her blood run cold. She hesitated, then rose from her chair too, walked around the table between her and Loki and halted in front of him. He didn't look at her.

"You are not that person anymore", she said softly. "You've changed. I don't care what you would have done to me three years ago, all I care about is what you are doing to me here and now. That's who you are, that's who you've grown to be. You have become a precious, kind and endearing person that I feel honoured to spend time with."

Loki was still staring at the table, not saying a word, his whole body trembling. When Emily touched his arm, he flinched slightly.

"The others in the tower don't know you yet, but once they do, they will accept you as one of them. Just like I did. And if New York wouldn't have forgiven you, you wouldn't be allowed to be here now. Do you hear me? You were forgiven, Loki. It's time for you to forgive yourself, too."

When Loki finally raised his eyes to meet Emily's, she could see tears glistening inside of them.

She stepped closer and wrapped her ams around his waist, pulling him close to herself, and for a split second she could feel him strive against her embrace before he finally gave in to it. He hugged her tightly and desperately, yet gently, soaking up the soothing comfort she gave him, and buried his face in her soft, sweet-scented hair with closed eyes.


	10. I'm Always Well When I'm With You

It was a few days later in the middle of the night when Loki suddenly woke up from a loud noise coming from downstairs. He listened closely and could hear a few more quiet sounds that made him tense up and get out of his bed in a second, already in self defence mode.

He wondered briefly it it could be one of the Avengers, but he had never heard any of them make loud noises, especially not at night. Constant vigilance and carefulness became natural behaviour when you are a professional assassin.

With one quick movement he teleported to the corridor and conjured up his daggers. When he looked at the elevators, the display told him that one of them was still downstairs in the entrance hall as it should be at night, while the other one was on the same floor as the common room. What in Odin's name would anybody who was living here want in the common room in the middle of the night? But then again, what could an _enemy_ possibly want in the common room in the middle of the night?

Loki decided to check out on it himself.

He teleported into the common room, the daggers in his hands and ready to be thrown - when he saw Emily sitting on one of the couches. He froze.

"Emily?" he asked disbelievingly and she flinched and turned around.

Loki's eyes widened when he saw her. Her hair was tangled and her face was red from crying. He rushed forwards and knelt down on the ground in front of her.

"What happened? Are you okay?"

Emily wiped her face with her sleeve and seemed to try hard to put on a brave face.

"What are you doing here in the middle of the night?" she asked him confused and Loki frowned.

"Well, I live here. And when I heard a noise downstairs, I decided to look if there was anyone in here who has just made the worst decision of his life. So what are _you_ doing here in the middle of the night?"

Emily swallowed. "I'm so sorry for waking you up, I tried to be quiet, but I tripped over -"

"Emily, cease your blabbering at once and tell me what is wrong."

She looked down at a wet handkerchief that she was nervously tearing into little shreds. "It's nothing, really, I just - Nick and I had an argument, and - well, I didn't want to stay with him - I just wanted to be alone. But I didn't have anywhere to go, either -"

When Loki glanced at her hands, he realized that her handkerchief was nothing more than little shreds lying on her blanket by now, and he quietly conjured up a new one to give it to her.

"Thank you - well, I thought - I have the keys to the tower, why not just sleep here -" She looked around nervously, "Oh god, that was a bad idea - I guess I should just go home -"

Loki took one of her hands in his and noticed that she was trembling. "Shh. You will not go home, you will stay here."

"If Tony knew that I'm sleeping here -"

Loki huffed. "Tony fell asleep on this very couch just a few days ago due to an alcohol intoxication, and that was in the middle of the day."

Emily tried to smile but instead, a new stream of tears started to flow down her face. Loki rose from the ground that he had been kneeling on and sat down next to her. For a second, she stiffened, but when he put his arm around her and pulled her closer, she let herself sink into his soft embrace.

"I'm sorry", she sobbed out, and he stroked over her hair gently.

"Don't be", he hummed, "Just cry. Let it all out, little one."

She had tried to hold back her tears until now, but at Loki's words she finally let herself go and began to weep freely into his chest until she didn't have any more tears left.

When she began to calm down, Loki squeezed her hand. "Do you feel better?"

"I do. Thank you so much."

"You are very welcome", Loki said and hesitated. "What was the reason for your argument?" he asked softly after a moment, and he felt her stiffen in his arms. "It's okay, you do not have to tell me", he added quickly.

"It was nothing, really", she murmured, her voice still shaken from crying, "It was stupid. Let's not talk about it."

Loki nodded. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

Emily looked at him. "You know what, yes. Can you get one of Tony's whiskey bottles out of his office?"

Loki laughed out. "You wish to be drunk?"

"Hell yeah."

 

 

* * *

 

 

When Emily woke up, the first thing she noticed was how incredibly comfortable her bed was. She wondered if it has always been so soft. The second thing she noticed was her severe headache; she decided to take a painkiller after her breakfast. And the third thing she noticed was the fact that the arm that was holding her did not belong to Nick.

She gasped, sitting up in an instant. Her wide eyes followed the long, muscular arm to a blanket that was hiding a male body, to a throat, and finally - to Loki's face.

"Oh my god", she whispered tonelessly, her face pale, her heart hammering against her chest. She looked down and realized that she was wearing a black sweatshirt and light pants that she believed to be Loki's. With a feeling of sheer terror she jumped out of the bed as fast as she could.

Loki stirred in his sleep when he felt something move beside him and Emily found herself struggling to follow her instincts that were telling her to just run away as far as she could. But she wasn't sure if her weak legs would carry her so far, anyways.

When Loki opened his eyes and looked into hers, he smiled sleepily. "Did you sleep well?"

Emily opened her mouth, unsure of what to say.

Loki yawned, then looked at her with raised eyebrows. "Are you alright?"

"Alright?" she repeated with a shaky voice, "No, I'm not alright!"

"What is the matter?"

Emily stared at him. "What - what have we done?"

Loki tilted his head to the side. He rubbed his eyes, still half asleep, and yawned again. "What do you mean?"

"I slept in your bed!"

He shrugged. "Yes."

Emily was on the verge of tears. "Loki, did we - have we -"

"What?" Loki yawned again, then suddenly gazed at her, finally understanding her behaviour. "By the norns, no! Do you truly think so lowly of me?"

She shook her head, her eyes still widened, "N-no, but - we were drunk -"

"I could not have possibly been drunk enough to sleep with you", Loki grumbled, and it took him a second to realize what he had just said. "I mean, to take advantage of you like that", he added quickly, "Of course I could sleep with you anytime - no, I mean -"

"Oh god, this is bad", Emily murmured, not even paying attention to Loki anymore.

Loki, relieved that she hadn't heard his awkward, un-silvertongue-like rant, shook his head. "No, it is not bad. Nothing happened. Do you not remember last night?"

"No", Emily said with a strained voice, "All I remember is how we were walking into your living room to drink this asgardian wine - and - we were talking - but then, nothing. Oh god, Nick's going to kill me -"

"I would break his neck before he could even raise a finger against you", Loki said absent-mindedly, his voice still sleepy, and Emily stiffened at his casual remark. "Relax now, I promise you that nothing has happened between us." He grinned slyly and added, "Trust me, you would remember."

"Stop joking, Loki, this is serious!"

Loki shook his head. "No, it is not. Why are you so worried about nothing?"

He sat up and the blanket slipped down. Emily's eyes widened when she saw his bare, muscular chest.

"Nothing?" she squeaked and gestured at him, and he raised his brows.

"I always sleep like this, I get warm at night."

Emily eyed him carefully and her gaze lingered on the rest of his body that was still wrapped up in the blanket. Loki caught her eye and grinned.

"Relax. I am wearing pants."

She could feel her cheeks heaten up. "And why did we sleep in the same bed if nothing happened?"

He raised his shoulders. "I offered you my bed and told you I would sleep on the couch, but you said that you did not want to be alone and asked if I could stay with you. So I did, naturally."

Emily whimpered. "Oh god, I'm so sorry -"

Loki rolled his eyes. "For what? You did nothing wrong!"

"Nick would disagree", Emily said meekly.

Loki looked at her with furrowed brows. He could see that she was truly distressed, even if he didn't understand why.

"Emily, listen", he said firmly, "You did nothing wrong. You even went into the bathroom to get changed, and you insisted on wearing a sweatshirt and long pants to keep everything -" he chuckled, "demure, as you called it." Emily glanced down at Loki's clothes that were covering her body. "The only thing that happened was that we were both drunk and fell asleep together."

"Okay", she mumbled eventually. Then she looked up at him suspiciously. "How exactly did we fall asleep?"

Loki hesitated. He had hoped that she wasn't going to ask this particular question, because as innocent as it had been, he was sure that she would panick even more if he told her.

"Oh god, what is it?"

"Nothing, really", he said quickly, "You just - snuggled up to me a little -"

It almost pained him to call it nothing, because to Loki, it had meant everything. It didn't have any sexual undertone at all, which was obviously what Emily was worrying about, but it must have been the most wonderful thing that he had experienced in his life. Emily had crawled over to him, quite drunk and already half asleep, and had cuddled up in his arms, placing her head on his bare chest and snuggling up to him while he had been holding her carefully. She had sighed contentedly and when he had asked her if she was well she had said "Of course. I'm always well when I'm with you." A minute later, when her breathing had already become even and steady, she had mumbled drowsily "Loki? Can you watch over me tonight?" He had promised her to do so and had stroked over her head, and she had fallen asleep in a second.

He couldn't help himself, but the amount of trust and faith that she had proved to have in him had touched him deeply. It had awakened something deep inside of him that he had never known to be there at all.

While others thought him to be the monster parents told their children about at night, Emily was the one person that thought him to be the one who would save her from these monsters.

Loki sighed. "Trust me, that was all."

Emily hid her face behind her hands. "I didn't do anything - you know - inappropriate?"

Loki shook his head. "Nothing at all, I promise."

"I'm sorry that I bothered you", she said ruefully, avoiding his eyes.

Loki sighed again. "You did not bother me at all. It was very comfortable." He looked at her, frowning. "Why do I see tears in your eyes?"

Emily wiped her eyes quickly. "It's just - Nick -"

"Do you think he will be jealous?"

She huffed. "He will be furious! Loki, imagine you're a human" - Loki snorted - "and you have a fight with your girlfriend and then she runs off and spends the night in bed with a gorgeous, half-naked god!"

A grin played at the corners of Loki's mouth and he raised his eyebrows. "Gorgeous, half-naked god?"

Emily could feel her whole face heat up.

"This description pleases me", Loki said, truly looking immensely pleased with himself.

"Oh god", Emily muttered.

"Oh _gorgeous, half-naked god_ ", Loki corrected her, smiling suggestively, and Emily covered her face with her hands and shook her head.

Loki stretched his arms. "Please, Emily. Nothing happened and everything is perfectly fine. Chill down."

Emily blinked, and Loki furrowed his brows. "Was that not correct?"

She grinned. "It was. It's just really cute when you talk in midgardian slang."

Loki huffed. "I prefer gorgeous to cute."

"If you don't stop teasing me -"

"Fair enough. Now what do you say to a romantic breakfast in bed, my love? - Relax, Emily, I was jesting!" He got out of bed with a grin on his face. "I do plan to prepare breakfast, though. What do you mortals eat in the morning?"

 


	11. You Speak In Riddles, Girl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: mention of domestic violence.  
> Things get a little tough for our favourite god and his favourite mortal.  
> I hope you like it anyway :)

Loki waited until Emily had taken a few bites of her scrambled eggs and a sip of her cappuccino before he looked at her with a serious expression on his face.

"Will you be alright with going back home today?"

Emily let out a sigh. "Sure. I just needed some space last night. But it's friday, so Nick and I will have the whole, long weekend to sort everything out." She didn't seem to look forward to it.

"If you are going to need space again, you can always come here", Loki said, and Emily smiled at him. "Thank you. I guess I should really pass on that wine of yours, though. What the hell was that?"

"Just wine - but from Asgard. I might have forgotten that its effect on mortals is more intense, though -"

"You don't say", Emily murmured and Loki smirked.

"You should feel honoured, I do not share wine with just anyone. Apropos, do not mention the wine to Thor, will you? He would empty my stock in a minute."

"If you don't mention to anyone that I spent the night in your bed?"

Loki chuckled. "The look on the other's faces might even be worth my wine."

"I dare you!"

"I will not say a word, I promise."

Emily smiled. Loki looked at her thoughtfully for a moment before he said, "Do you want to tell me about your argument with Nick?"

She hesitated and then nodded reluctantly, inhaling deeply. "He doesn't want me to spend so much time here."

Loki frowned. "But this is your workplace."

"I think he's worried that I work too much", Emily murmured.

"Do you?"

"No! I love my job! And I love it here!"

Loki grinned. "Well, then everything is fine, is it not?"

Emily sighed. "No, it's not."

"You speak in riddles, girl."

"It's a bit embarrassing", she murmured, "He - he's very jealous, you know. We have a lot of fights because of that."

"Jealous? Of whom?"

"I - we - generally. He thinks that I spend too much time with other men here."

"Does he not trust you?"

Emily huffed, but didn't reply.

Loki furrowed his eyebrows. "And what does he want you to do about it?"

She swallowed. "He wants me to quit."

Loki tensed up. "What did you say to that?"

"I told him that I wouldn't. That I love this job and that I'm not willing to go through this again."

"Again?" Loki asked, but understood in the very next second. "Your last job, as an assistant for a professor - you once told me that you quit and that it was complicated. You did that for Nick?"

She nodded silently and Loki felt both anger and a certain degree of frustration rise inside of him. Why in Odin's name has Emily quit her job for this pathetic excuse of a boyfriend?

"He thought that I was spending too much time with my boss, the professor. At some point I couldn't take it anymore and quit just to be able to live in peace again. And now we're in the exact same situation again."

Loki frowned. "So he is jealous of Stark?" he huffed. "That is ridiculous. He should really have more faith in you and he can not ask you to quit another job now! Who does he think he is?"

He was so appalled that he didn't even notice Emily's startled expression when Loki mentioned Stark's name. Tony was not the one Nick had a problem with - but Emily would rather bite off her tongue than tell Loki the truth.

"You will not quit, though, will you?" Loki suddenly asked, and Emily looked up.

"No", she said firmly, "I won't. And I told Nick, too. That's why we were fighting."

Loki smiled. "I am relieved to hear that you want to stay here. I - I would miss you."

Emily returned the smile. "I'd miss you, too."

He gave her a thoughtful look. "Now I understand why you were reacting this way when you've woken up in my bed. Do you truly believe that Nick would not approve of you sleeping in my bed, even if nothing has happened?"

"I know it. He's going to lose it."

She looked seriously distressed and Loki felt bad about teasing her the way he had. He didn't like Nick, but he didn't want Emily to be unhappy either, and he certainly didn't want to be the reason for another argument that would upset her.

"Is it really necessary to tell Nick about this little - incident?" he asked carefully.

Emily raised her shoulders. "He'll ask me where I've been, and he'd know if I lied to him."

"Tell him that you walked to the Avengers Tower to sleep in the common room. That is not a lie, is it?"

She eyed him. "Well, technically, no."

Loki grinned. "There we are."

"You're as cunning as a fox if you want to, huh?"

"God of lies, sweet one."

"You're also really good at making scrambled eggs."

Loki grinned. "Just do not tell anyone how I was standing in the kitchen in my pajamas, preparing breakfast for a mortal. It would destroy my reputation."

 

 

* * *

 

  
  
When Emily left Loki's apartment an hour later to get to work, she left him behind in a rather contemplative mood. He wasn't sure of what to think about the things that Emily had told him about. Of course jealousy was nothing uncommon on Asgard either, and Loki knew the stinging pain of the feeling all too well himself, but he thought it highly inappropiate to demand your girlfriend to quit her job just because you don't want her to be around another man that she is working with - especially if there was no reason at all to be jealous in the first place. He remembered how sad Emily had been when she had told him about her former job some time ago, and the fact that it had been Nick who had pressed her into quitting was infuriating him.

When they had been in Paris he had told Emily that he was sure he'd like Nick if he got to know him better - but he was more and more convinced that he was just as much of an idiot as he had suspected ever since their first encounter. He had not seen him since then, but he couldn't say that he was particularly sad about that.

He was still wondering what in Odin's name Emily was seeing in this worm. Why had she quit a job for him? She had once said that he had done much for her and that she didn't know where she would be without him. He was still wondering what she had been talking about, but he had not delved into this subject any further - Thor had more or less forced him to promise that he wouldn't bother Emily with questions about her relationship. _"This is none of your concern, brother! You won't meddle in mortal relationships, it'll only get you trouble and that's the last thing you need!"_

As much as he hated to admit it, but Thor probably had a point with this. He was considering himself quite lucky to have gained Emily's trust so quickly and he did not wish to jeopardize it by casting doubts on her relationship. Relationships were a personal, sensitive topic and he was in no position to judge hers.  
As long as Emily wanted to be with the pathetic jealous fool he had to respect it, no matter how much he disliked him.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Loki felt considerably better after defeating Thor several times in their combat training. It was Thor who finally let his weapons fall and lifted his hands.

"Alright, brother. I surrender."

"Wow, if somebody would have pissed you off before you attacked New York, you'd be our fucking king now", a voice sounded from the door, and when Loki and Thor turned around they saw Tony standing there, grinning wryly.

"Shut up, Stark", Loki grumbled, putting everything back into the weapon cabinet.

"Whoever got you in your bad mood, you should consider hiring him as a cheerleader or something."

Thor grinned. "Forget it, Tony. He didn't tell me what's gotten him so angry either."

Loki huffed. "I do not need to be angry to beat you, Thor."

"Can't wait to see how you're going to deal with Cap, then", Tony stated casually. When Loki tilted his head to the side, Tony grinned. "Cap agreed to become your next training partner. You'll start in a week. And hey, Conan, what about the two of us?"

Thor beamed at Tony. "It will be a pleasure."

"What changed the patriot's mind?", Loki asked suspicously, and Tony shrugged.

"He had a long talk with Emily today, looks like she can be very persuasive. Or intimidating, I'm not sure, Cap seemed a little scared, actually. But whatever it is, it's a start. Try being nice to our little super soldier."

Loki looked amused. "Are you indicating that I am usually not nice? That hurts, Stark, I do think very highly of my socialising skills." When Thor shot him a glare, he added, "Very well, I shall be nice. If he is already scared of Emily, though, he might be wetting his pants when he's training with me."

Tony suppressed a grin and raised a warning finger. "See, that was _not_ nice. I'm serious, Rudolph. If the two of you get along well, it's a huge step for us."

When Loki rolled his eyes, Thor gave him a playful slap on his back. "He'll do fine, won't you, brother? He doesn't wish to disappoint his mortal best friend, after all."

"Aw, I'm your best friend?" Tony smirked, "My heart's melting!"

Thor furrowed his brows, eyeing the mortal standing in front of him. "I was talking about Emily."

Loki let out a deep sigh. "The two of you are most exasperating. I do not think it can get any worse with the Star Spangled Simpleton."

He grinned when both Thor and Tony were shooting him a chastising glare.

 

 

* * *

 

 

It wasn't until the next Monday that Loki saw Emily again. She hadn't come to the tower over the weekend, and while Loki was a little disappointed in not seeing her, he also expected it to be a good sign. Maybe she and the worm had really been able to sort everything out.

When he was on his way to Tony's office on Monday morning, he saw her walking down the corridor, and he was just about to greet her when she lifted her head and he felt his blood run cold. He stared at her face with widened eyes.

"By the norns, Emily, what happened?"

"Hey Loki!"

Emily smiled at him and tossed her hair to the side as if trying to hide the bruised side of her face behind a curtain of brown hair. When he didn't react and kept staring at her dark bruise she sighed. She opened her mouth to say something and then halted, as if suddenly remembering something.

"It's not as bad as it looks like", she said eventually.

"I beg to differ, it looks quite painful", Loki said, eyeing her carefully, "What happened?"

"It was my own fault, really", she said and gave him a reassuring smile.

"What _happened_?" Loki repeated, reaching out for Emily when he suddenly heard Tony's voice from behind him.

"I guess she doesn't want to add fuel to the fire of ridicule you keep throwing at us by telling you that she tripped and fell down the stairs."

Tony came closer and looked at Emily with a frown. "Wow, it looks worse than you told me on the phone, you're sure you won't rather stay at home?"

"Yes", Emily said quickly, "Really, it's nothing. I bruise easily."

"I would not ridicule her for hurting herself!" Loki said indignantly.

Tony huffed. "So you're not struggling to tell us how pathetically weak we mortals are?"

Loki hesitated, glanced at Emily and back at Tony, and then said "Well, I do admit that - that the fragility of your mortal bodies does not cease to astound me - however, I - considering that - "

Tony watched him amused, and Emily couldn't suppress a grin either when she saw the Silvertongue struggle for words.

"Alright", Tony interrupted him eventually, "I'm going to leave before you talk yourself into trouble. Feel free to go Emily, you should be recovering, not working."

He winked at Loki, who snorted, and left.

"You were not actually afraid to tell me the truth behind your injury, were you?" Loki asked suspiciously.

Emily shook her head insecurely. "No, of course not."

"I do know when you tell me a blatant lie, dear", he said in a chastising tone, narrowing his eyes, and Emily's cheeks reddened.

"I'm sorry", she mumbled, and Loki grinned.

"See, _that_ was the truth. Now, you can consider yourself lucky to know a certain god with certain abilities -"

Loki raised his hand towards Emily's face and she flinched. He lowered his hand immediately and stared at her, the hurt obvious on his face.

"Did you think I would strike you?"

"No", Emily said quickly, "Of course not -"

"You are scared of me? After everything you've said to me and all the time we've spent together - and you think I would _hurt_ you?"

Loki took a step back. He didn't even know why he was surprised - had he really expected anyone to _not_ be afraid of him?

"No - Loki -"

His face completely blank, Loki took another step back from her.

"Well, I see", he said shortly, "I shall leave you alone now, if you fear me so."

And before Emily could say another word, he was gone.

 


	12. But One Of Many

Loki was sitting on his bed, his legs straightened out, and threw his dagger in the air with a lazy flick of his wrist. It got stuck in the ceiling and Loki waved his hand to make it fall down again. He caught it and threw it back, this time distinctly more powerful, and the dagger sank deep into the ceiling, leaving cracks around its landing spot. Loki emptied his glass of wine with a single gulp and waved his finger to let the dagger fall down again. When it knocked, he didn't even bother looking up.

"Snowflake?"

Loki snorted angrily.

"Yeah, I heard that. C'me on, open the door."

He didn't answer. It had been three days since he had seen Emily, but it felt like an eternity to him. That was ridiculous, of course, three days were nothing to him, and his own pathetic feelings were angering him to no end.

On the day he had left Emily alone in the corridor, he had been thinking about what had happened over and over again, but he just couldn't make any sense of it. Emily had never been afraid of him before and he simply didn't understand what he had done to change that. Eventually, he'd decided that he would simply not care about it anymore - whatever he'd done had been done, and he couldn't change it, anyways. What bothered him even more, though, was the fact that he had been so - so _hurt_ when she had flinched. The fact that a human being was scared to be touched by him shouldn't have surprised let alone affect him, but _it had_ , and that was the main problem.

He had grown much too close to this certain human being. Yes, Emily had been nice company, a pretty little diversion from the boredom this damn planet had been holding in storage for him, but that was all there was to it. She was nothing special, she was but one of many. He should never have become so accustomed with her in the first place - she was a mortal, he was a _god_. It was pathetic. He was a disgrace to his own expectations and he had decided to put an end to his ridiculous demeanour.

Yet here he was, sitting on his bed the entire day, feeling so - so _lost_ , somehow, and it angered him more and more with every passing second.

The first day he had tried to act as if nothing had happened, except for avoiding Emily at all costs. He had joined the traning session and he had even sat down in the common room to have a cappuccino when Emily had already gone home. But no matter what he'd done, it had felt different, and he just couldn't explain why. The whole tower seemed to be darker, as if Emily had been brightening the rooms somehow; the training session had been a failure because of his lack of concentration - he had even been beaten by the soldier, a situation that he considered to be an insult to himself, really - and the cappuccino had tasted odd when he'd drunk it all alone. It had somehow left a bitter taste in his mouth and he had felt even worse after drinking it. All of this was simply ridiculous, this was the same beverage that usually left him in a relaxed and contented mood, why would it not work this way without some mortal girl around? It was highly illogical.

He had decided to just stay in his chambers then, and that's where he had been for the last two days. Emily had knocked several times, she had begged him to open the door and apologized through it, but Loki had chosen to ignore her. Her apologies had infuriated him even more - why was she apologizing to him, after all? It was not as if he should care about it - a mere mortal should not be able to somehow affect a god and his mood!

Yet...

Another loud knock. "Open, Loki, I mean it."

Loki raised his eyebrows. Stark had never called him by his name before. But then he shook his head. He had not opened up for Emily or for Thor and he would certainly not open the door for Stark of all people.

A second later Tony was standing in front of him.

"I own this damn building, did you really doubt that I had access to every single room in here?"

Loki raised from his bed and towered over Stark.

"How dare you break into my chambers", he hissed, and Tony shrugged.

"I have to talk to you. By the way, your whole Dark Lord behaviour is a lot more effective when you're not wearing pajamas and a Kurt Cobain hairstyle."

Loki shot him a warning glare, but eventually, he just shrugged and let himself fall back onto the bed. When Tony noticed a bottle of wine on Loki's nightstand, he raised an eyebrow.

"Holy shit, the only thing that's missing is a Celine Dion song", he muttered.

Loki remained silent.

"Listen", Tony said patiently, "You missed the Avengers meeting today. And Emily has been asking for you for three days straight now, obviously heartbroken over you missing out on your little coffee dates. She told me that she 'hurt you because she is an idiot', but didn't tell me any details." He waited, watching Loki, then sighed. "Come on, tell me. What happened between my two lovebirds?"

Loki shot him a glare.

"Right, no lovebirds. Just friends."

"Precisely. And even that may not be anymore."

For a moment, they were both silent.

"May I?" Tony asked eventually, pointing at the wine bottle.

When Loki shrugged, Tony took the bottle, eyeing it carefully. "I'm not getting frostbites or anything when I drink out of the same bottle as you do, will I?"

Loki rolled his eyes and pointed to a glass that was hovering in the air next to him.

"Ah, I see. You're a royal after all, huh?"

"Precisely."

"Would you be so kind to lend me a glass too, Your Majesty?"

Loki flicked his wrist, which Tony interpreted it as a dismissing hand gesture until another glass appeared right in front of Tony's face.

"Thanks, Copperfield."

He poured himself a glass of wine, took a sip and let himself fall into the armchair opposite of Loki's bed.

"Make yourself at home", Loki growled, taking a sip of wine himself.

Tony grinned. "Well, now that we're drinking buddies, are you gonna tell me what it is that's broken your cold little heart?"

Loki snorted.

"You see, if you have to make things difficult; let's turn this into a support group meeting. I'll tell you all about my love life first and then it's your turn. Well, Pepper and I have -"

"In Odin's name, have mercy on my soul, Stark."

Tony grinned. "So you wanna start?"

Loki rolled his eyes, emptied another glass of wine and threw his dagger into the ceiling again. Maybe it was the asgardian wine that was affecting his brain, maybe he was just in a bad enough mood or maybe living with mortals for so long has somehow weakened him, but at this very moment he actually wanted to talk to somebody about what had happened between Emily and him.

"Fine." He threw his daggers a few more times before he grumbled, "Remember Emily's bruises?"

"Yeah. Still looks bad."

"Well, I intended to heal her and reached out for her and she - flinched. She was scared of me."

"And you're not used to people being scared of you?" Tony snorted, but fell silent when he saw the expression on Loki's face.

"Not Emily", the dark god simply said.

Tony looked at him with furrowed brows. "And that was all? Are you kidding me?"

Loki didn't answer and poured Tony and himself another glass of wine. Tony took a big sip of it.

"So a considerably weak mortal girl that just hurt herself got a little afraid when an inhumanly strong god wanted to touch her injury?"

Loki remained silent, but he looked as if he was suddenly feeling slightly uncomfortable. "That is not the point", he finally said with a hint of defiance.

"And what is the point?"

Loki waved at his glass and let it float through the room in small circles. He could feel the wine beginning to work its way into his brain, and it felt divine.

"I believed her to see more in me than a Dark Lord, as you so eloquently call me."

"I see", Tony said slowly. He watched Loki and his hovering glass thoughtfully for a moment. "Do you know", he said eventually, "that Emily was working here for barely a few weeks when she came into my office to talk to me about you? She told me that I was a hypocrite for expelling you because of your attack on New York when I myself could be considered a war criminal, and that the only difference between the two of us was that you've at least had the decency to sully your own hands." He grinned. "She came back into my office ten minutes after she had left, terrified of how she'd been talking to me. She must have apologized a dozen times. When I asked her if she had meant what she'd said, she was obviously scared to death of my reaction, but she said yes. I could see that she expected me to fire her for that, but I appreciated her honesty. That was when I asked you to join us."

He locked eyes with Loki. "She has barely known you back then, but she has risked her job for sticking up for you. I don't know why, but she has seen more than the Dark Lord in you from the first time you two have met."

Loki didn't answer.

"She's a great girl, Snowflake. And if there's one thing she is not, it's scared of you."

It took Loki a few minutes before he managed to mumble, "I appreciate your honesty, Stark."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Is that your way of saying thank you?" When Loki huffed, Tony narrowed his eyes. "That's not all, is it?"

Loki shot Tony a glare. He couldn't help but consider throwing the dagger into a different direction than the ceiling this time. After a minute, he let out a deep breath. "I did not plan to like anyone of your pathetic race."

Tony grinned. "I see. Prince Charming refuses to fall for Cinderella."

"I am not sure of what you are trying to phrase, but I assume that you are wrong."

"Unlikely. You realized that you actually like a mortal and now you're afraid to destroy your reputation as a superior being. How's the phrasing now?"

 _Shockingly correct_ , Loki thought, but rolled his eyes at Tony. "Please, Stark. That is ridiculous. I am merely - surprised - to find out that one or two of the wretched beings on this pathetic planet are not as unworthy as I have been assuming."

Tony grinned. "One or two, huh? The pretty girl and, what, your new drinking buddy?"

"Do not flatter yourself, Stark. The only reason I am even talking to you is my slight intoxication."

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that", Tony snorted and emptied his glass, "This stuff is really good, by the way. Anyways - look, you're here now. Why not make the best of it? Making friends with a few _wretched beings_ could brighten your time here, keep you entertained and show the rest of us that you can actually be - well, kinda nice, too. And if that's not convincing enough for you - don't you think Superdaddy could see that as an improvement, too, and maybe reconsider the length of your punishment?"

Loki looked at him thoughtfully. "You are not as stupid as you look, Stark."

He poured Tony another glass of wine.

Tony took a big sip of it. "Thanks."

"You are welcome."

" _You_ are welcome, Frosty. I can't believe I'm Vader's shrink. And now cheers."

 

 

* * *

 

 

Loki woke up from a loud noise the next morning. He opened an eye and scanned the room for the source of it and his gaze landed on - Stark. He sat up and stared at the mortal lying on his couch. Stark was snoring loudly, not at all disturbed by the strange noise that his phone made.

"Stark", Loki called out, then threw his pillow in Stark's direction.

Tony grunted. "What?"

"Cease this madness!"

"Whatya mean - fuck, what -" It took Tony a few seconds to understand what was happening. Before he could say a word, he decided to answer his phone that was still playing Black Sabbath's Iron Man. "Who the - Pepper? Oh fuck, right - I'm so sorry - wait, what? Holy shit, listen Pepper, we'll talk about this later, okay? Pepper? Pep-" He let his phone fall down beside him and ran his hands through his hair. "Fuck." When he sat up he groaned loudly. "Shit, Lucy, it's 11 am." He shook his head. "What the hell kind of wine was that?"

"Asgardian", Loki growled.

Tony yawned. "We missed a meeting."

Loki just grunted something, while Tony stared at him. "Why am I sleeping in your room?"

"Too intoxicated to walk."

"And I chose to sleep _here?_ "

Loki stifled a yawn. "You chose to sleep in my bed. I chose to teleport you out of it."

Tony's eyes widened. "Thank god."

Loki turned around in his bed and nuzzled his face into the pillow again. "You are welcome."

"I can't believe you and I had a booze-up together", Tony shook his head. "Hey, are we buddies now or what?"

Loki turned around in his bed and glared at Tony. "For the sake of the gods, will you cease your jabbering?"

Tony grinned. "Sure, sunshine." He sat up. "I'm gonna have a hangover breakfast. You in?"

Loki sighed. "Will you be silent while we're having it?"

"Promised."


	13. I Look Fantastic With These Horns

"What the hell is going on here?" Natasha whispered, and both Clint and Steve shook their heads, staring at Loki and Tony who were sitting in the common room having breakfast together.

Clint narrowed his eyes. "Maybe he's trying to poison him", he suggested.

Steve tilted his head to the side and eyed the several plates with food cautiously, as if trying to find out if any of it was poisoned by simply looking at it.

"Do I want to know why you're all standing here?" a voice came from behind them, and they turned around to see Bruce, rubbing his eyes, clearly tired.

"We found Stark", Natasha said.

"Great, where has he been? I wanted to talk to -"

Bruce stopped when he saw Tony and Loki sitting at the table together. Tony was, for some disturbing reason, currently explaining Darth Vader's role in the Star Wars movies to Loki, who actually seemed to listen to him rather interested while eating something that looked like scrambled eggs.

"Um - what - ?"

"No idea", Natasha murmured.

When Tony turned around to see the four Avengers standing in the door, he waved his hand. "Guys - and girl - I'm sorry for missing the meeting this morning."

"Well, you clearly had different things to do", Natasha said irritated.

"I slept in", Tony admitted. "And then I really needed a breakfast. Frosty here got me sloshed with some asgardian drink last night, and holy shit -"

"You have asgardian drinks here, brother? You never told me!"

Thor appeared behind the others, staring at Loki accusingly. Loki just rolled his eyes.

"Where do all these Avengers come from?" he asked Tony slightly annoyed, and Tony grinned.

"They're just coming back from a meeting without their _favourite_ Avenger. That's why they're all so lost and confused right now."

"Well, at least give me some of these foods, then!" Thor growled grumpily and walked into the common room to sit down at the other end of the table. He was already chewing on a handful of bacon before he'd hit the chair.

"Why don't you all come in", Tony suggested, "Let's have our meeting here while we're having our breakfast. I ordered enough for all of us."

Clint was the first to step into the room after Thor, and when Natasha furrowed her eyebrows, he shrugged. "I'm hungry. If they didn't drop dead by now, I guess it's safe."

The captain followed him shortly after. He even sat down next to Loki, to both Tony's and Loki's surprise.

"I wanted to discuss our training plan", he said, looking at Loki with a frown.

Loki nodded. "Of course."

Bruce and Natasha exchanged glances and Bruce raised his shoulders before he adjusted his glasses and walked up to the table. Loki looked up at him, his eyes narrowing. He hadn't spent much time with Bruce yet - he didn't participate in the training sessions and during the meetings, Loki usually sat down as far away as possible from the hidden beast.

Bruce noticed Loki's glance and shrugged at him. "I keep my murderous side at bay if you do the same?"

Loki felt the corners of his mouth twitch. "Agreed."

 

 

* * *

 

 

"Good morning?"

It was more of a question considering the strange situation that was taking place in the common room: not only all the Avengers, but Loki, too, were sitting at the biggest table of the room, talking and laughing with each other while enjoying their breakfast. Loki was talking to Steve at the moment, and the Captain was nodding approvingly at something Loki had just suggested.

They all turned around and replied to the greeting - except for Loki. When Loki turned around to see Emily standing in the door, he froze. She looked at him, insecurity written all over her face, and he noticed that she had dark circles around her eyes. The side of her face was still swollen and had turned green by now.

Loki felt just as nervous as she looked. They both opened their mouth to say something to the other one and they both realized at the same moment that they didn't know _what_ to say.

Tony was the one to save the day. "Hey Emily, come here and have breakfast with us!"

Emily glanced at Tony but quickly looked back at Loki, as if asking for his permission to sit down. His face softened when he saw the anxious expression on her face.

"Would you like a cappuccino?" he asked and locked eyes with her.

Her entire body seemed to relax and a relieved smile appeared on her face. "I'd love to."

Loki stood up and gestured at the empty chair next to Tony. "Please, take a seat."

When he passed her, he gave her a warm smile, and she hesitated for a second before she stepped closer to put her arms around him. Pleasantly surprised, Loki returned the embrace and hugged her tightly. When they let go of each other, Emily's cheeks were a little flushed. Loki smiled at her.

"I'm -" she said, but Loki interrupted her.

"No, I am. Let us not talk about it anymore." He stretched his hand out a bit and said "May I?"

Emily smiled and nodded.

While Loki let his fingers wander over her cheekbone, letting green light dance over her face, their eyes stayed locked and Loki couldn't deny that simply seeing and touching her again was lightening his heart.  _Maybe Emily isn't fully mortal_ , he thought absent-mindedly. That was the only logical explanation for his fondness of the girl.

When his hand left her face, leaving rosy skin behind, he smiled at her. "As good as new."

"Thank you", Emily said genuinely.

Loki went into the kitchen, humming to himself without even noticing it, and Emily sat down at the table next to Tony. He smiled at her and Emily returned the smile insecurely before she leaned closer to him and whispered, "What the hell is going on?"

Tony beamed at her. "We decided to turn the meeting into a breakfast. Help yourself!"

When Loki returned with Emily's cappuccino and sat down on the chair next to Steve, Tony grinned at him.

"Hey Tinkerbell, can't you throw a little fairy dust at me to heal my hangover, too?"

Loki huffed. "I am able to heal temporary injuries, Stark, not permanent conditions."

Clint, who was sitting next to Tony, almost choked on the coffee he was drinking, and even Natasha grinned when she said, "Ouch".

Emily let her gaze wander over them, wondering what the hell she had missed out on. When Loki's eyes met hers, he smirked.

"I did not put a spell on them, if that is what you fear."

"A potion, then?" she said, and he chuckled.

"Not even a potion. Well, except for Stark. He had some of my wine last night."

Emily's eyes widened. "Your asgardian wine? That stuff is fatal!"

Thor growled at this. "Did you share your drinks with everybody but me, brother?"

Loki grinned. "Almost. Its effect on mortals is quite entertaining."

Natasha huffed. "I bet they're just not used to good stuff. I'm russian, I bet your asgardian stuff does nothing for me."

Thor and Loki grinned at each other, and Loki took a mental note to himself to prove the arrogant widow wrong as soon as possible.

 

 

* * *

 

 

When Loki and Emily were finally alone in the common room two hours later, she gave him a nervous look.

"Listen", she said, "I am really -"

"Emily, when will you finally stop apologizing? Especially when you did nothing wrong? I was the one at fault, and I am the one who should apologize for behaving like I did. I am sorry."

For a brief moment Loki found himself wondering why it was suddenly so easy for him to apologize. It was usually not his biggest strength to do so.

Emily smiled insecurely. "So, we're - we're cool?"

Loki chuckled. "Yes. We are _cool_."

Her whole face lit up and she let out a deep sigh. Then she tilted her head to the side. "What happened with Tony last night?"

"Obviously, we are - ah - _drinking buddies_ now. He's fallen asleep in my bed, Emily. Can you imagine the _horror_ I had to endure?"

She laughed. "It's not that uncommon anymore that mortals sleep in your bed, huh?"

"I teleported him out of it. My generosity does know quite a few limits, still."

"I feel honoured that I was allowed to stay in your bed, then."

"You should." He hesitated. "How are things with Nick?"

When Emily tensed up, he already regretted his question.

"Not much better", she admitted after a second, "But don't worry, I'll be fine."

"Does he still want you to quit?"

"Well, yes. But I really don't want to quit. I mean, I _won't_ quit. So we're, like, constantly fighting at the moment."

Loki watched her thoughtfully. She was chewing on her lip now, clearly uncomfortable with her current situation at home, and somehow he felt pity for her.

"Maybe I can do something to help you?" he suggested, and Emily smiled faintly, shaking her head.

"I don't think there's anybody who could help. But thank you. I'll be fine, it's just going to take a while until Nick - well, until he calms down."

Loki nodded. "You might want to tell him what an obnoxious fool Stark is, he should be capable to let go of his jealousy quite quickly, then", he joked, trying to cheer Emily up again, and it worked.

She grinned slyly. "Yeah, and maybe I should just tell him that Stark is busy sleeping in your bed, anyways."

Loki snorted with laughter. "You are cheeky, little one."

Emily beamed at him. "I'm learning from the best."

 

 

* * *

 

 

The breakfast with the Avengers had obviously changed something. On the next day, both Clint and Natasha told Stark that they were willing to give Loki a chance, and Steve had admitted that his training with Loki went much better than expected, too. Tony was quite happy with the development and even though Loki kept playing it down in front of Tony, he was pleasantly surprised.

Tony was actually so excited about the effect their little get-together has had that he decided to throw a party in the Avengers Tower. When he announced his plan, the reactions varied considerably, and while Thor was over the moon, Loki could only roll his eyes at his enthusiasm - and at the general idea of a party with a bunch of mortals, too.

Emily on the other hand found the idea brilliant - until she realized that she was going to be the one responsible for the arrangements, that was.

"He's crazy", she complained to Loki a few days later, spilling a few drops of coffee on her shirt while downing her cappuccino in less than a minute, "Nobody can organize such an event in two weeks!"

Loki took a sip of his own coffee with a little more grace than Emily. "He obviously thinks you capable enough to do it."

"That's because _he's crazy_ , aren't you listening? Oh, by the way", Emily added, suddenly remembering something, "He told me to ask you and Thor if you have any - well - evening dresses."

He snorted. "Asgard is known for its feasts and festivities, of course we own formal wear."

Emily shot him a doubting look. "Um, may I - see it?"

Loki shrugged. "Sure."

He flicked his wrist and Emily gasped when Loki was suddenly standing in front of her dressed in a black and green leather armour that was highlighted with golden metal parts, a long green cape and, to literally crown it all, a huge golden helmet with incredibly long horns.

Loki smirked, obviously misinterpeting Emily's stare. "Satisfied?"

Emily's gaze wandered over Loki's armour. "That's - I'm -"

The god bowed slightly. "I take that as a yes."

"What?" Emily's eyes widened, "No - Loki, you can absolutely _not_ go to the party like _this!_ "

When Loki frowned, she started to giggle. "You - that's - that's not what we wear at parties on earth!"

He shrugged. "Thus you mortals have no taste in clothes."

"Loki -" Emily gave her best not to burst into laughter.

Loki on the other hand was not amused. "Will you stop laughing about me?"

"I'm sorry, it's just - you look like you're from some kind of science fiction movie - I've never seen you like this -"

She couldn't hold herself back anymore and burst into laughter.

Loki sat down, his face sullen. He had conjured up his noblest armour, provided for festive occasions only, and when Emily had been staring at him he had felt flattered by what he thought to be admiration. He had not realized that she found his attire nothing but ridiculous.

When Emily saw the expression on his face, she stopped laughing. "I'm sorry, Loki, I didn't mean to laugh -"

"Well, you were clearly amused about me."

"No, it's - look, what I meant with evening dress is something entirely different - you really caught me on the hop with this - this - "

"This", Loki said coldly, "is my noblest garb."

Emily suddenly realized that Loki was seriously offended, and her face softened. "Hey. I didn't want to laugh about you. You look fabulous in this. No, I mean it, you look - really impressive, _marvelous_ actually. It's just not what I expected -"

Loki frowned. "Have you never seen the footage from - from my attack?"

Emily shrugged. "Yeah, sure, I have. But it's like you're an entirely different person to me, you know? The guy on this footage is -" her voice turned deep and stern - "Prince Loki of Asgard." She grinned. "But to me, you're just - _Loki_ , my best friend, and to see you dressed up like this - I guess sometimes I just kinda forget that you're - you're royalty, a _god_ actually, and not just my friend that makes cappuccino for me and hugs me when I cry."

Loki eyed her curiously. "I am your best friend?"

She blushed. "Um, well - yeah, I guess." When Loki didn't say anything, she eyed him carefully. "Is that - a problem?"

"Why in Odin's name should that be a problem for me? It is an honour. I am merely surprised."

"Surprised?" Emily shook her head. "Loki, you're actually the only real friend I've had in a long time."

She looked down at her hands, fiddling with her sleeve.

"It is hard to believe that", Loki stated, though he suddenly remembered that she had once told him that she didn't have anybody to talk to. He had not thought about that ever again.

"It's true. Well, Nick has a lot of friends and we meet some of them regularly, but they're more his friends than mine, you know? And the people who I used to think of as friends... well, they turned out not to be", she said bitterly.

Loki nodded thoughtfully. "I know what you mean." When he saw the sad expression on Emily's face, he added, "Well, since you do not have anybody else to tell anyways, I venture to say that you are the closest friend I have had in a while, too."

Emily blushed. "Thank you", she whispered, and for a second, Loki thought that she was about to say something, tell him something important, but then she grinned instead. "You know what we should do? Go shopping!"

He raised his eyebrows and she giggled. "Don't give me that look! Come on, we'll buy you a nice suit for Tony's party. I need a dress, too, you can help me find one!"

Loki shook his head slowly and gestured at his armour. "Are you sure that you wish to accept help from someone with my taste in clothes?"

Emily stuck out her tongue. "Absolutely. Hey, you know what? If you're free, let's go right now, I'm so sick of my office and I really need a little break. What do you think?"

With a deep sigh, Loki nodded and rose from his chair. Emily narrowed his eyes at him and grinned mischievously.

"But before we go, please let me try your helmet! I bet I look fantastic with these horns!"

When Loki raised his brows, Emily giggled. "Come on!"

"No one but me is allowed to wear the horns", Loki said firmly, "Especially not -"

"- a pathetic mortal?" Emily stuck out her tongue again. "Come on, please, I won't tell anyone!"

When he shook his head silently, she gave him her best hangdog look. "For your best friend? Please?"

"You are an imposition", Loki growled, but flicked his hand at Emily, who gasped when she suddenly felt something heavy on her head.

When she touched her head carefully to feel cold horns underneath her fingers, she cracked up. She jumped up and hopped through the room until she halted in front of a mirror, and she was almost howling with laughter when she looked at her reflection.

Loki smiled, shaking his head. This girl has not only offended his armour a few minutes ago, but she now had the effrontery to mock his helmet even further, and he should be furious. But he couldn't help himself - when he looked at her posing in front of the mirror with his massive golden helmet on her tiny head, laughing heartily about her very own appearance, his heart felt as if it was melting. She was _adorable_.

When she turned around, striking a pose, and asked "How do I look?" with a giggle, Loki felt the sudden urge to tell her that she was the most beautiful being he had ever seen on this or any other world. He put the thought aside quickly, startled by his own mind, and smiled at her instead.

"You look magnificent."

She grinned mischievously. "Let's visit Tony before we leave."

Loki chuckled. "Darling, I think I might have a bad influence on you."


	14. Congratulations On Your Betrothal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wish I had any drawing skills so I could draw Emily's and Loki's selfie :D  
> I hope you have fun with this chapter!

"We should have filmed it", Emily giggled, "The expression on his face when he saw me with your helmet -"

Loki was walking beside her, a highly amused smirk on his face. She was right; Stark's expression had been hilarious, but he had enjoyed Thor's gaze even more. Thor had just stared at them, glancing from a horned Emily to Loki and back again, incapable to find words.

Loki had to admit that their shopping trip had been surprisingly fun. He had never been at a mall before and while he could tell that he would never be particularly fond of these huge buildings crowded with loud, busy human beings, it had still been interesting. Besides, Emily had clearly enjoyed their time there. She had dragged Loki through several shops until they'd finally found a suit that he had agreed on wearing, and he had been flattered when Emily had actually decided to buy the dress he had picked out for her.

When they were done, they had decided to return to the tower - Emily still had work to do and was already feeling anxious about being home so late today. Loki had offered her to teleport them, but she'd said that she could need a bit of fresh air, which was why they were walking down the streets of New York now.

"I think the helmet would go well with your new dress, too", Loki smirked, and Emily laughed.

Strolling down the street leading to the tower, Emily looked at Loki. "You liked our shopping trip, didn't you?"

Loki grinned. "It was not as annoying as I had expected. And I have to admit that New York is an interesting city."

"You didn't notice that before?"

"The first time I have visited New York, I have been rather busy failing at conquering the whole planet and seemingly failed to notice the beauty of the city, too."

Emily had choked on her coffee.

"Maybe because of all the explosions and fires", she suggested jokingly.

Loki shot her an amused glance. "Maybe."

"But have you never been outside of the tower before?"

"Only recently, for missions. But apart from that... no."

Emily frowned. "Why?"

Two teenage girls passed them and both of them were staring at Loki with sheer horror written on their faces. They started to whisper, not even trying to be tactful, and Loki snorted.

"That is why."

Emily saw the strained expression on his face and shot the girls an angry glare. Of course she had noticed the random looks she and Loki had received in the mall, but he hadn't let any emotions show and she'd thought that he'd just gotten used to it. But obviously, he had not.

"I'm sorry", she said softly, and Loki raised an eyebrow.

"It is fine", he said shortly.

When Emily heard voices right behind them a moment later, she turned around and was irritated to see the same girls that had passed them just a second before. When she realized that they were following them, she snapped.

"Is there any particular reason for you to follow us?" she snarled, and they stared at her.

"Um, yes", one of them said, starting to giggle, and the other one, a challenging expression on her face, pointed at Loki and said "Isn't that -?"

Emily rolled her eyes. "Yes, he is. And I am, too", she added, lowering her voice threateningly, and took a step towards them, "And if you two care about your pretty clothes, you should really start to run, because otherwise I am going to set them alight with a snap of my fingers."

They both stared at her, torn between fear and disbelief, until one of them said, "I can't recall seeing you in the news!"

"Oh really?" Emily said, narrowing her eyes at the girl, and when she took another big step towards her, she suddenly felt the heavy weight of Loki's helmet on her head again.

"BOOOO!" she yelled out, dashing at them, and the two girls screamed out and bolted away from them, running and screaming for their lives until they finally turned a corner and disappeared.

Laughing with all her heart, Emily turned back to Loki.

"Thanks for your help", she snickered, and Loki, smirking at her, shook his head.

"You really are special, little one. I did not know you could be so terrifying."

"Your helmet helps with that. It would really come handy wearing it from time to time."

Loki chuckled. "Are you implying that you are frequently followed by juvenile girls you wish to affright?"

Emily laughed. "No, not really. But you know, the streets of New York aren't exactly safe sometimes."

Tilting his head to the side, Loki looked at her. "What do you mean?"

She returned his look a little insecurely. "Well, I mean, there's a lot of, um, thieves and murderers and God knows what else running around -" When she saw Loki raising his eyebrows, she quickly added, "No reason to worry, of course, it's just that sometimes I feel a bit uneasy when I walk home at night, and I just thought that a helmet like yours that appears out of thin air would come handy in case that I'm - I was just kidding, really."

Loki suddenly looked at her with a strange expression and Emily was starting to feel awkward.

"Anyways -" she said, but Loki interrupted her.

"I never thought about that before."

He really had not. It had never occured to him that it was dangerous for a fragile mortal being like Emily to walk around without any protection. He suddenly remembered what she had told him a while ago - _"I'm not very strong and I don't know any kind of self-defence, so I suppose almost every man, even mortal ones, could kill me if they intended to."_ He imagined Emily walking home late at night - something she did quite frequently, as he knew - and suddenly standing in front of someone who wanted to hurt her, and he felt an awkward, tight feeling in his chest.

"I will teach you how to defend yourself", he said firmly, and when she opened her mouth to say something, he added, "That was not a suggestion."

 

 

* * *

 

 

"Brother?"

Loki sighed, but flicked his wrist to open his door, anyways.

"Thank you", Thor said when he entered the room and slumped down on the couch.

Loki rolled his eyes. "Thor, I was just about to go to bed; what is it?"

His adoptive brother shrugged. "I just thought we should talk. About you and Emily."

"There is nothing to talk about, Thor."

Thor huffed. "Sure. You spend so much time together, you let her sleep in your bed and today you let her wear your helmet!"

Loki grinned. "She took a picture of us, or a selfie, as she called it - I am wearing her sunglasses on my head and she is wearing my helmet. I plan to frame it and give it to Odin on his name day. What do you think?"

The blonde god shook his head. "Loki, what is it with you and this girl?"

"We are friends. I thought that was what everybody wanted from me, becoming fond of midgardians."

"And you are fond of midgardians now? Or just fond of this particular midgardian?"

Loki shrugged. "It is a start, is it not?"

Thor eyed him suspiciously. "Why her?" he said eventually, and Loki raised a brow.

"Why not her?"

"She has a boyfriend, right? So there is nothing - you know - physical between you and her?"

Loki rolled his eyes. "Nothing like that, Thor. I am merely enjoying her company. One would assume you would approve of some company for your poor, banished brother."

"I do, I really do, and if you're just friends, I think it's a great thing - but if there's - well, all I'm trying to say is that you have to be careful, you shouldn't get into trouble -"

"I do not intend to. And right now, I intend to go to sleep."

With a deep sigh, Thor rose from the couch. "Fine."

"Oh", Loki suddenly said, "And do not forget to buy a suit for Stark's festivity."

Thor frowned. "What do you mean? You know what I am going to wear."

Loki snorted. "That's what I thought. By the norns, you cannot go to a midgardian festivity in your asgardian armour, Thor. If you claim to be one of Midgard's saviours, you should at least have the decency to adapt to their culture."

With a grin on his face, Thor left Loki's apartment. He had a feeling that if Odin could hear Loki reprimand him for not having the decency to adapt to midgardian culture, his remaining eye might just pop out of his head.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 " - and with that being said, I wish all of us a wonderful evening!"

With these words, Tony stepped down from the podium amid a hurricane of applause of the crowd.

The party had become much bigger than anyone - except of Tony, of course - had expected, and Loki shook his head, letting his gaze wander over the crowd. How could he not have seen this sheer exorbitance of a festivity coming when Tony had suggested "a little party for all our friends"? He had agreed to spend the evening with the Avengers and a handful of other mortals, but this - this was _ridiculous_. There must have been hundreds of human beings in this hall.

For a brief second Loki couldn't help but imagine their reaction if he were to walk up onto the podium now, change into his asgardian armour and scream at them to kneel before him. That would be a hilarious turn of events after Stark's heart-touching speech about the importance of giving second chances and how the most dreaded enemies could one day become your dearest allies.

"Don't even think about it", he heard Emily whisper into his ear, and he turned around and gave her his most innocent look. "Oh, don't look at me like that, you were just wondering what you could do to piss Tony off the most."

When Loki grinned guiltily, Emily slapped his chest playfully. "I dare you! I've worked my ass off the last two weeks!"

"Do not fret, I will behave. But with all due respect, this speech was ridiculous."

Loki eyed Emily up and down. She was wearing the elegant dark green dress that they had bought together, black high heels and a silken black bolero jacket, her hair was pinned-up and she had used more make up than she usually did.

"You look stunning."

Emily blushed. " _You_ look stunning. You must have an incredible fashion adviser."

Loki grinned. He had to admit that he liked the black suit and green tie Emily had picked out for him. When he looked past Emily to see Nick approaching them with two glasses of champagne, he groaned internally.

"Sweetheart, there you are! And hello, Loki, I apologize, if I had known that my fiancée was in your company, I would have brought a glass for you, too", Nick said, sipping on his champagne.

Loki gave him a cold smile. "Hello, Nick. No worries -" he flicked his wrist and suddenly held a glass in his hand, too, much to Nick's distaste. He raised it slightly, "- and congratulations on your betrothal."

Actually, Loki was a little taken aback that Emily had never mentioned that Nick had proposed to her. He avoided her gaze and put on a blank face, distorted by the fact that this little detail actually bothered him in some way.

If he had looked at Emily he would have noticed the startled and slightly angered expression on her face.

"Thank you", Nick said, sneaking an arm around Emily's waist, "Isn't she beautiful tonight?"

"Absolutely stunning", Loki nodded. When he realized that his voice sounded rather dismissive, he added, "I am delighted to hear that you approve of my choice, too."

He had promised Emily to try to get along with Nick, after all, and even if he was going to bite off his tongue trying to be nice and kind around this mortal, he would stil do his best to do so if it would make Emily happy.

He frowned when he saw Nick's gaze turn cold.

"What do you mean, your choice?"

Still not looking at Emily and not noticing her suddenly pale face, Loki gestured at Emily's dress. "Your fiancée's dress. It has been an honour for me to help her find it."

Nick gave Loki a smile that never reached his eyes, and Loki was uncertain of what exactly he had done wrong this time. He had tried to be casual, sociable, yet he had obviously still angered the mortal worm somehow, and while he himself could not care less whether Nick liked him or not, he had planned to be cordial with him for Emily's sake, and it angered him that he seemed to have failed miserably.

"I see. Emily is very fortunate to have you, then, are you not, sweetheart?"

Emily forced herself to smile when she said "Yes, I am", and finally, Loki looked at her, surprised to suddenly see her face distraught and pale.

"Are you not well?" he asked, furrowing his brows.

Emily smiled faintly. "I'm fine, it was just a lot of work lately."

"Stark really makes her wear herself out", Nick said disapprovingly.

Loki decided to give his casual and likeable alter ego another try. "Do not worry, Nick", he said, smiling politely, "I take care that Emily has at least one relaxing break a day."

Nick stared at Loki, then glanced at Emily, and when Loki did the same, he was slightly alarmed at the expression on her face. Before he could say something, Nick pulled Emily closer to himself.

"You look like you could need a bit of fresh air, sweetheart. If you'll excuse us, Loki?"

Emily shot Loki a glance, as if trying to say something, but before she could even open her mouth, she and Nick were already heading towards the exit.

Loki shook his head. He was highly irritated by their demeanour and he felt the sudden urge to follow Emily and see if she was alright. When he was just about to do so, Tony appeared in front of him.

"Snowflake, have you seen Emily? I wanted to thank her, she has done a terrific job - what's wrong?"

"I am not sure", Loki said, still staring at the door where Emily and Nick had left the hall, "I think I did something to anger Emily's betrothed."

"They got engaged? She never told me! I didn't know!" Tony sounded rather offended, and Loki raised his shoulders.

"Me neither."

Eyeing Loki, Tony said, "Uh oh. What did you do to him?"

Loki rolled his eyes. "Nothing. I told him that Emily's dress is stunning, and when he complained about her working too much, I said that I always arrange it so that she has at least one break a day."

"That sounds surprisingly charming, Frosty. What's up, have you grown to like her boy?"

Loki snorted. "Far from it. But I assumed that it would please Emily if her betrothed and I got on well together."

Tony raised his glass. "Again, surprisingly charming! Why would he be angered, then, with a suave sweetheart like you around?"

Loki watched Tony closely. "Are you drunk?"

"Take a guess."

With a huff, Loki turned around. "Do try to fall asleep in your own bed tonight, Stark."

When he left the hall and walked down the corridor, Loki took a deep breath. Yes, he might have begun to like a few mortal beings, but this loud, crowded hall stuffed with hundreds of them was certainly not what he had in mind for a pleasant evening. He had taken a few steps into the second corridor, still searching for Emily and Nick, when he could suddenly hear voices.

"- very interesting indeed!"

That was Nick, a loud and angry voice. For a brief second Loki felt a sense of triumph - so he was right, Nick _had_ been angry. His flush of success vanished in an instant when he heard Emily's voice, shaky and tearful.

"Nick, please stop, it's really not what you -"

Nick interrupted her. "Do you know what I think? I think I finally know why I've barely seen you for two weeks!"

"That's not true; you know I've been working for this party the last weeks, it has been one hell of -"

Loki frowned when Nick started shouting, "And when you were done working for the party you prefered to spend time with another man instead of coming home to me in time?"

Emily's voice was so quiet now that Loki could barely understand her. "I didn't spend much time with him - I've only seen him during my breaks for the last week - Nick, we are really just - just friends, there has never been anything -"

Nick snorted angrily, "Friends, sure! A friend who makes you wear this slutty dress so he can leer at you while your fiancé stands right next to you!"

What he said was absurd, so much so that it took Loki a second to process what exactly it was that he'd just said. And then it clicked. Nick was talking about him. He wasn't jealous of Stark, he was jealous of _him_ , Loki. That was utterly ridiculous. And, he suddenly thought, slutty? He called Emily _slutty_? Who in Odin's name did this creature think he was? His first impulse was to walk over to them and slam Nick into the wall - but, and he was surprised at his own composure, that would most certainly make things even worse for Emily.

Emily said something now, her voice a bit stronger this time. "About that - what were you thinking? Fiancé? We never talked about -"

A sudden feeling of delight rushed through Loki.

Nick hissed something at Emily, and it was so quiet that even Loki could not hear it. For a second they both remained silent until Loki heard Emily's teary voice again.

"I know. I'm sorry, Nick."

"You should be", Nick snarled, "And believe me, if I ever see this freak at your side again, both of you will regret it."

Loki had to hold back a laugh. Yes, he was already trembling with fear. Did this fool even know who he was?

"Please don't -" Emily began, but Nick interrupted her, his voice loud again.

"No, forget it! We still didn't talk properly about this job anyways -"

"We did!" For the first time, Emily sounded angry, too. "We talked about it over and over again, but I told you -"

"And I told you", Nick suddenly yelled out, "that I am not going to share you, not with another man and not with some stupid job!"

It took every ounce of Loki's self control to stay where he was. Oh, it would be a delight to walk over to this pathetic excuse of a man right now, to slam him down into the ground and clutch his throat, and he wouldn't let him breathe again until he'd apologize for ever raising his voice against Emily - and maybe after his apology, he'd still break his neck, just for the _fun_ of it, and because he's yelled at Emily, because he's made her cry - he could almost hear the wonderful cracking noise his neck would make when he -

Loki took a deep breath. _No. Not a good idea. Emily would definitely not approve of this._

Emily's anger seemed to have vanished and her voice was strained again, shaken. "Please let's just talk about this at home, okay? Please?"

When Nick murmured something and Loki heard them coming closer to him, he vanished. He didn't go back to the party but teleported straight into his apartment instead. He was utterly confused.

The way Nick had been talking to Emily was infuriating him, and every fibre of his body craved to teleport himself back and rip out his throat. This human scum didn't seem to have the slightest bit of respect for her. Loki just couldn't for the life of him understand what Emily saw in this man. She has been with him for more than two years, she's even lived with him for almost as long, but why? He was unkind, jealous, possessive to a point that he had actually said he would not share Emily with _her job_ , and, all in all, he was simply intolerable.

That he was jealous of Loki was something the god had not seen coming. So that was why Emily had panicked when she had slept in his bed. And, he suddenly realized, it was presumably his fault that they had been fighting - telling a jealous man that the person he's jealous of spends her break with her everyday was most certainly not very helpful. But there _had_ never been anything between them, and he doubted that Emily was the kind of woman who would ever give her partner a real reason to be jealous, anyways, so why did Nick not trust her?

And how had Emily managed to lie to him about Nick's jealousy? He tried to recall their conversation about it and shook his head when realized that he had actually been the one to say that Nick was jealous because of Stark - Emily had simply not corrected him. That has been clever, he thought, reluctantly admiring the mortal's ability to hide the truth from him of all people. But why in the nine realms had she not told him the truth? Did she not trust him?

Loki sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He had to talk to her. She might not approve of his eavesdropping, but he had to talk to her about the things he'd heard.

He sighed again when he realized that it was Friday - he wouldn't see Emily before Monday. Not only did he have to wait until he could talk to her, but he also felt an unfamiliar feeling of concern. After everything he'd heard tonight, it would certainly not be a pleasant weekend for her - he assumed that he had only heard a small part of what would turn out to become a much bigger argument.


	15. His Partner In Crime

"Emily?"

When Emily looked up from her computer to see Loki standing in the door to her office, she smiled.

"Hey! Where have you been? I've been looking for you at the party!"

"I left rather early. There were too many humans for my taste."

She snorted. "You're a snobby god."

Loki grinned. Then he became serious. "Emily, can we talk?"

Surprised, Emily nodded. "Of course. What's wrong?"

Loki closed the door behind him and sat down in front of Emily, who was eyeing him nervously.

"Emily, I overheard your fight with Nick at the party."

She went pale and her smile dropped from her face like molten butter. "What?" she whispered, horror-stricken.

"I did not mean to", Loki added calmly, "I followed you because I was worried about you."

"Did you - did you hear _everything_?" she asked, her whole body tensed up, and Loki raised his shoulders.

"Not everything, I think. But I heard enough to understand that Nick is jealous because of - well, me - and that he does not want to share you -"

Emily's face was white. "Oh god, I'm so sorry you had to hear that", she said, "I -"

Loki's mouth almost dropped open. He had half expected her to be furious about his eavesdropping, or maybe about his boldness to intervene - but he had not expected her to _apologize_.

"Why in the nine realms are you apologizing to me?"

"It's - it's just so - embarrassing - I didn't want you to know what Nick thinks about you and me - you must think that I'm -"

Loki interrupted her. "What I think is that your boyfriend is an idiot and that you deserve better."

Now Emily's cheeks turned red. She lowered her gaze. "No, I don't", she murmured.

Loki frowned. "What do you mean? Emily - why are you with Nick?"

There. He had said it. He half expected to hear thunder and be struck by lightning now, but nothing happened.

Emily stared at him. "What kind of question is that? I love him!"

"Why?"

She shook her head frantically. "Loki, he's not always like that! He can be so sweet and funny, and he's already done so much for me -"

Loki raised an eyebrow. "I heard him call you slutty. I heard him tell you he would not share you with 'a stupid job', and that -"

"He didn't mean that, he was just angry! And I did work too much the last weeks, I know how much he hates it when he comes from work and I'm not there -"

"That was because you had to work yourself! You have been working, as you so eloquently put it, _your ass off_ the last weeks, and you managed to organize a festivity for hundreds of people! He should be proud of you!"

Emily bit her lip. "He is, I think. He's just - worried and - well, of course he doesn't like when I'm not home in the evening, that's - well -"

Loki felt frustrated. "Why do you keep coming up with apologies for his behaviour?"

"I'm not coming up with them, it's the truth!" Emily's voice had become louder, and when she noticed, she shot him an apologetic glance. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you. Look, Loki, I understand how it looks like. But Nick's - he's not always like this. He's stressed at the moment, but it's going to be fine. Believe me."

Loki sighed. "I just do not want you to be unhappy", he admitted, and Emily smiled.

"I'm not. Really."

They fell silent, and after a minute Loki said, "Why did you not tell me that it was not Stark that Nick has a problem with?"

Emily let out a huff. "Because it's embarrassing as hell?" When Loki frowned, she eyed him suspiciously. "What?"

He shrugged. "I thought you would not trust me. I simply want you to know that you can."

Emily's face became red, and at the same moment a shy smile appeared on it. "Thank you. I know. And I do trust you."

For a second, they both didn't say anything. Then Emily met Loki's gaze. "We're not engaged, by the way."

Loki smiled. "So I have heard."

She turned red again. "Right. Um, I just wanted you to know that - well, if we were, I'd have told you."

"I would appreciate that. You should have a god's blessing, after all."

Emily laughed out. "As humble as ever."

"Humbleness is not in my nature, little one."  
  


 

* * *

 

 

"Seriously, buddy, she's a grown girl. If she wants to be with the guy, let her."

Loki rolled his eyes at Tony. "I do not intend to order her to leave him. I am merely trying to tell you that this mortal does not treat her the way he should."

Tony shrugged. "I don't see that. And honestly, I still think -"

"I know what you think, and let me reassure you that you are more than wrong with your assumption. I do not denigrate the mortal moron due to jealousy, which is way beneath me, to say the least. I am merely stating the facts -"

"Let me state the facts. Emily loves Nick, Nick loves Emily, and they live together. End of story. If you're actually right with your assumption and he really is the asshole you think he is, they'll break up eventually, I suppose, but it's not up to you."

Loki sighed, and Tony replied with a smirk. "I know it's hard, Romeo. Don't go poison yourself now. I have to get back to work."

When Loki left Tony's office, he decided to go into the training room. He knew Thor would be there today and he could really need a little training session with someone who was at least to a certain degree a match for him.

It had been almost a week since the party and Emily had assured him that things between her and Nick had calmed down by now, but she still seemed stressed to him, even if she wouldn't admit it. She was constantly concerned about going home in time to not provoke Nick's jealousy now, and Loki was unnerved by her cautiousness. Besides, they had planned to start with her self defence lessons by now, but Emily didn't want to spend more time at the Avengers Tower than necessary for now, so they had postponed their lessons, and Emily's inability to defend herself was causing him to worry about her security whenever she left the tower. He didn't know why he was suddenly so concerned about her; there was just this strange, tense feeling inside of his chest that worsened whenever he was thinking about the things that could happen to her. And by now he was painfully aware of the dangers that was lurking in the streets of Midgard - he should never have started watching the news. It was astonishing, really, how quick mortals were with murdering each other for the sheer purpose of gaining a few coins or maybe a car.

When he left the elevator, he saw Emily walking down the corridor, typing something into her mobile phone. He approached her and tapped on her shoulder, and she whirled around with a terrified shriek.

"This pathetic noise would not exactly help you if there actually was a reason to make such a noise", Loki scolded her, and she stuck out her tongue.

"Can't you just say hello when you see me?"

"That sounds rather boring."

Emily couldn't suppress a smirk. "If you're bored, how about a cappuccino?"

"Sure. Hold on tightly", Loki grinned, and Emily could only shout "Don-" before the familiar feeling of cold water was already washing over her. When she could feel the ground of the common room beneath her feet, she opened her eyes again. "Damn -" she said, but couldn't hold back a chuckle.

"Do not pretend to be angry, I know you love it when I teleport us", Loki teased her, and Emily grinned.

"It is amazing. But the feeling takes some getting used to."

"So we should do it more often?"

She laughed out. "Only when you take me to Europe again. Or the Caribbean, maybe?"

"You are quite expectant, my dear lady. But if it be your will -"

Emily shook her head, still giggling. "For now, a simple coffee is sufficient, Your Highness."

Loki smirked. "Ah, that sounds wonderful. You mortals usually have a severe lack of respect for adequate forms of address."

"Says the man that calls Tony Stark the Iron Idiot."

The dark-haired god laughed out. "I did not call him that for a long time, actually. It is long overdue."

They sat down at their usual table with two cups of cappuccino, and Emily sighed, breathing in the smell of the fresh coffee.

"Ah, just in time. I slept in and didn't have time for a coffee this morning", she said, stifling a yawn.

"You did not sleep well?"

She shook her head. "No, and definitely not enough."

Loki smiled. "Then you should use the nearing weekend to relax your mind a bit."

"Actually, I wanted to ask you if you'd like to do something? Nick is on a business travel, so we can -" She suddenly turned red. "Oh god, that sounded terrible. I'm a horrible girlfriend."

"You are not. And I would gladly spend time with you."

Emily still looked uncomfortable. "I just meant, with Nick gone for the weekend - we could do something, you know, as friends of course, but without any - trouble -"

Loki locked eyes with her. "That is a brilliant idea. And do not look so guilty. You do not intend to do anything wrong."

She looked miserable. "It _is_ wrong to meet you behind Nick's back. But I - I just missed you, we didn't really spend much time together lately - and -"

"We are friends, Emily. There is nothing wrong with us meeting at all. Except if you contemplate seducing me, of course."

Emily spat out the sip of coffee that she had just taken and looked at Loki, mortified. He snorted with laughter, wiping away the drops of coffee that Emily had just spat into his face.

"I am jesting, darling. Relax. Withal", he added, "this is most convenient, for it is an opportunity to begin with your training."

She let out a deep sigh. "Is that really necessary?"

Loki raised an eyebrow. "I watch the news every day. It is beyond belief how keen you mortals are on ending each other's lifes. Thus, yes, it is necessary. I believe even Nick would approve of you learning self defence skills."

Emily snorted. "Yeah, he'd be thrilled."

 

 

* * *

 

"Loki, are you there?"

Tony's voice that was coming from the intercommunication system sounded so serious that Loki didn't even consider mocking him for actually remembering his proper name today.

He and Thor had been practising for almost two hours, and even if neither of them would admit it, they were both quite relieved to have an excuse for a short break.

"I am in the training room with Thor", Loki replied and stretched his arms.

Thor shot him a warning glance. "No ploys this time, brother. It's a break."

Loki smirked. "A break ends when one decides to resume fighting."

"No", Thor shot back, "A break ends when _both agree_ on resuming fighting!"

Tony's voice interrupted their bickering. "Loki, I need to talk to you. Fury is here in my office."

Loki raised an eyebrow and Thor frowned.

"What does he want?"

"We might have a problem. We do, actually. Maybe you should both come here."

When Thor and Loki entered Tony's office a minute later, Tony was leaning against his desk with a glass of whiskey in his hand and Fury was standing at the window, letting his gaze wander over New York. When he turned around slowly, he eyed Loki in a derogatory way.

"I knew this was a mistake", he said, "and I hate to be the one on solid ground here."

Tony rolled his eyes. "I thought we were here to discuss the situation -"

Fury crossed his arms. "The situation is that your new _dearest ally_ has assaulted the population of New York again, and it doesn't need much discussion."

Before Loki could even say something, Thor had already turned around to stare at him in disbelief. "Loki?"

Loki rolled his eyes. "I did no such thing. That is absurd."

"We have witness statements that attest your attack of a group of people not very far from this tower. The most interesting part here is in my opinion your partner in crime, who remains unidentified until now. Care to elaborate?"

Frowning, Loki glanced from Tony to Thor and back to Fury. "I do not have the slightest idea of what you are talking about."

Fury took a step forwards, pointing at Loki angrily. "Don't lie to me! Your victims could give a detailed description of you and your partner. Who is she?"

"She?" Tony, Thor and Loki said in perfect synchronism, and Fury nodded, rolling his eye at Loki.

"Don't try to take me for a fool now. You brought an alien warrioress here to attack a group of innocent teenagers and you will tell me who and where she is right now."

When the penny dropped, the corners of Loki's mouth twitched in amusement. He bowed mockingly. "Fine. I will take you to my warrioress. But be warned, she is extremely dangerous. Follow me."

Tony stared at Loki, torn between anger and disbelief, and Thor seemed to struggle for words, too.

Loki led the way through the corridor and the three men followed him speechlessly. When he stopped in front of Emily's office, he knocked carefully, opened the door and looked at Fury.

"After you."

"Loki, what the hell -" Tony started as soon as Fury had passed them, but when he saw Loki's smirk, he fell silent and entered Emily's office.

Thor and Loki followed him.

A very surprised Emily was sitting at her desk, staring at them. "Um - hi?"

Loki stepped forward. "Director Fury - my most dangerous warrioress Emily. Emily - S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Fury. He wished to see you, darling."

Emily stared at the man in front of her desk and rose from her chair. "Um, hello, Director Fury? Nice to meet you - I guess? What -?"

Fury whirled around and stared at Loki. "Is this some kind of joke?"

Loki shook his head slowly. "Would you care to explain Emily the reason for your visit?"

Tony and Thor had obviously understood by now; they were both watching the scene rather amused. Fury on the other hand was not amused at all.

"What does Stark's assistant have to do with your recent attack?"

Emily's mouth dropped open. "Recent attack? What?"

Loki smirked at her. "Director Fury decided to visit us today to bring me to justice for my recent - ahem - attack of two juvenile girls. He also demanded to call my partner in crime to account."

The expressions on Emily's face were to die for. She was obviously torn between amusement, shame and, most prominently, rage.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" she blurted out, "That was not an attack, I just made a little fun of these brats for staring at us! And Loki had nothing to do with it at all! You must be joking, right, you came here to bring him to justice? For what, laughing while I yelled "BOO" at two teenagers?"

Fury stared at her while Tony and Thor were fighting hard not to choke with laughter. Loki watched Emily and Fury with a big, smug smile on his face. He had never seen Emily angry before and it was delightful.

Eventually, Fury cleared his throat and shook his head. "Do not take me for an idiot. The witnesses stated that the woman has been wearing a golden helmet, much like the one -"

Emily huffed and pointed at the wall to Fury's left. The director's gaze followed the direction until it landed on the framed picture that was hanging there.

It was showing a smirking Loki, wearing pink sunglasses, his arm put around the shoulder of a beaming Emily with golden horns on her head.

 

 

* * *

 

   
It quickly became a running gag in the Avengers Tower. Whenever anybody crossed Emily's path, they would lift their hands and beg her to have mercy on them, and when Tony met Fury a few days after his certainly quite embarrassing visit, he suggested with mocking graveness to build another high-security cage in case Emily 'ever goes bonkers again'.

The day of Fury's visit was the first time in weeks that Emily stayed a little longer in the evening. Tony had invited the rest of 'the gang', as he liked to call them, to a small get-together to celebrate their new Avenger, the 'dangerous alien warrioress Emily'. Loki and Emily had the time of their lives - Emily wouldn't stop joking about how she was proud to be a feared villain in New York now, too, and Loki kept complaining that his new partner in crime was stealing the entire show from him.

Ironically, Fury's visit, that had had the original purpose of proving Loki's untrustworthiness, had done the exact opposite. At their get-together all of the Avengers turned out to be quite irritated about Fury's accusations against Loki considering his constant progress, and even though Loki would not show it, he felt quite pleased when even Natasha and Clint declared their solidarity with him.

It was quite late when Emily finally said that she'd have to go home, and when Loki vented his displeasure at her going home alone in the dark, Natasha offered to accompany her. Nobody missed her winking at Loki. She was obviously highly amused by his concern for a mortal girl.

"Bruce, you've got to keep an eye on your girl", Tony teased, "She seems to have already cast one of hers at Frosty!"

Bruce and Loki both huffed.

"I thought Fro - I mean, Loki - is trying to woo his partner in crime?" Clint objected, and Loki shot him a warning glance.

"I am not trying to woo anyone", he stated, and when they all exchanged knowing looks, he rolled his eyes and murmured something about the displeasure of mortals and how he should have conquered them when he'd had the chance.

 


	16. To Temporary Freedom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *insert fireworks and Grandmaster's voice here* It's my birthdaaay!  
> That's why I decided to get my two lovebirds drunk. I hope you enjoy reading the chapter at least half as much as I enjoyed writing it :D  
> Another inspiration for this chapter were the pictures I've found when I googled "Tom Hiddleston + Cat". If you haven't done that before, do it now and thank me later :D  
> Ah, I can almost hear Loki's voice saying "Cease your redundant prattling, mortal", so I'll shut up now :)

When Loki and Emily met for their coffee break in the next morning, Emily seemed to be terribly distracted. Loki had already asked her twice if she wanted another cappuccino, and she still didn't seem to realize that he had been talking to her.

"Emily?"

She flinched, obviously completely lost in thought, and finally returned his look. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"I asked if you wanted another coffee."

"Oh, yes. Sure. Thank you."

When Loki returned to the table, he eyed her suspiciously. "Are you alright?"

Emily nodded absent-mindedly, "Yeah, sure."

Loki frowned. "Emily, I know that that was a lie. What is the matter?"

She shot him a glance. "That really is annoying, do you know that?

"So I have been told."

She huffed, and Loki rolled his eyes.

"Now tell me. A fight with Nick?" he said casually and was surprised when he saw tears welling up in her eyes. "Emily?" he said carefully, and she nodded.

"He was angry when I got home so late yesterday", she admitted quietly, "But it's not just - not just the fight we had. It's - I don't know what to do."

Loki watched her carefully, waiting for her to explain what she'd just said, but she just sniffed.

"What is the problem?" he asked eventually, and Emily chewed on her lip for a few seconds before she blurted out, "Nick wants me to give Nolan away."

Frowning again, Loki looked at her. "Your cat? Why?"

She shook her head frantically, "I don't know."

Before Loki could even tell her that he knew she was lying, she shot him an apologetic glance.

"Yes, I know, that wasn't true. It's just - it's embarrassing and I don't want you to think bad of him."

Loki decided not to tell her that there was no way he could possibly think even worse of this man.

"I will not, I promise. Come on, you know you can tell me everything." When Emily didn't answer, he joked, "He can't be jealous of Nolan now, can he?"

Emily looked up at him with a desperate expression on her face, and Loki snorted.

"Of your _cat?_ "

"Well, not like that, of course, but he - he says he doesn't like me to apply all my attention to Nolan, and - well, he doesn't really like cats anyways -" Emily raised from her chair and started to pace up and down, "When I was late yesterday, he kind of - snapped. He said I didn't have enough time for him and - that I'm already working so much, and that when I'm home, I'm too busy with Nolan -"

 _Pathetic worm_ , Loki thought, and he gave his best not to say it out loud. The problem was, he didn't know what else he could possibly say.

Emily's voice was shaking by now. "We've been talking about this ever since I've found Nolan, and last night he said that he's had enough of him now - it's his apartment, actually, not mine, so it's his decision, of course - but I can't just give Nolan away - but I have no choice - I don't know what -" She seemed to try hard not to sob out and Loki's heart ached. "We had a bad fight last night, and another one this morning, and now he's on his business trip for a week and - and he told me to get rid of Nolan until he comes back."

 _He was not a worm_ , Loki thought, _that would be an insult for every worm out there_.

"Do you think he really means it?" Loki asked carefully, "Maybe it was only in the heat of the moment - would he really ask you to give your pet away?"

Emily nodded frantically. "Yes, he's serious about it this time. He said that he wants Nolan gone when he returns, and if he's still there, he'll give him to some animal shelter - "

And all of a sudden, Loki knew what to say. "He can live with me."

Emily stared at him. "What?"

"Bring Nolan here. I will take care of him and you can see him everyday."

Emily was obviously at a loss for words. "What - I - are you serious?"

"Of course. If Nick is not going to change his mind and you approve of the idea, I believe it to be a reasonable solution."

"But - I -"

Loki raised an eyebrow. "If you do not want to -"

"No", Emily blurted out, "Of course I want, but - do you really mean that? You don't have to - "

"I am aware of that. But if I did not want to help you, I would not have offered my help."

Emily stared at him with widened eyes. "You should know that - Nolan can be a little, um, mischievous -" she said eventually, and Loki laughed out.

"I do believe I can handle that. And such a tiny, furry creature cannot possibly be more unnerving than Stark or Thor, and I handle both of them brilliantly as of late."

"But - oh god, Loki, really? You would do that for me?"

Loki nodded. "Most certainly, yes."

And that was when Emily broke out in tears.

Loki stiffened and watched her rather helplessly before he raised from his chair to approach Emily carefully.

"Little one", he said softly, "Why are you crying?"

When Emily looked up at him with her tear-stained face, Loki couldn't help himself. He wrapped his arms around her and stroked over her hair.

"It is alright, do not worry", he murmured and closed his eyes.

He had meant to soothe Emily, but somehow, the closeness to her had a strange effect on him, too. There was something about her scent and her warmth that always gave him this odd feeling he couldn't identify. It had already been there when he had hugged her for the first time; it had been even stronger when she had snuggled up to him in his bed, and somehow it seemed to grow bigger and bigger every day. Though the feeling was not unpleasant at all, he did not recognize it, and it confused him deeply.

Emily pressed her wet face into Loki's chest and breathed in. She wondered why his embrace always had this soothing effect on her and why his smell always made her feel so - so _safe_. She couldn't even describe his scent. It was a mixture of leather, something that reminded her of fresh wood, and for some reason vanilla. But there was something else, his very own scent, that gave her this feeling of being protected and - something else that she just couldn't identify. It was a strange feeling, yet a very pleasant one, but she just couldn't find a name for it.

"Thank you", she whispered into his chest, and she wasn't sure if he had even heard her until she could hear him hum approvingly. It made his whole chest vibrate, and Emily found herself hugging him even tighter at the feeling. For a second she felt guilty - Nick would snap if he could see her hugging Loki so intimately, and he was right, wasn't he, she should not hug another man like this - but then she put the thought aside. This was just Loki, a friend and nothing else, and he had just done something incredibly nice for her, and she was upset - there was absolutely nothing wrong about an embrace between friends in these circumstances.

 

 

* * *

 

 

When they were both sitting at the table again, Emily watched Loki curiously.

"Shouldn't you ask Tony first?"

Loki snorted. "Stark agreed on several different, partly alien serial killers living here; I doubt that he will have qualms about a little furball."

Emily smiled. "I can't believe you're doing this. I really owe you."

"I may take you up on that later." He smirked.

Emily cleared her throat. "You know, I was just thinking - Nolan is really attached to me and I think it's going to be - confusing for him - you know, if I just gave him away -" She swallowed. "So I thought, maybe I could bring him to you and then stay with you for a while. A day or a night or something, until he's more familiar with you -"

When Loki grinned, she blushed. "It sounds stupid, doesn't it? I just -"

"It does not sound stupid at all. You care for him. I find that adorable. And Emily", he said with a strangely meaningful look on his face, "You can always stay with me for as long as you want. Be it a night or a month. If you ever need an accommodation, consider my chambers your chambers."

Emily smiled faintly. "That is good to now", she mumbled, and Loki nodded.

"You would be very welcome."

For a second, Emily eyed him thoughtfully. Then her face lit up.

"Couldn't we do it today? I mean, I don't really like being alone, anyways, so we could just get Nolan and then I'll stay here for tonight? We'll have a sleepover!"

And that's what they did.

When Loki teleported them into Nick's and Emily's apartment, he was baffled to find very colourless and cold furnishing inside of it - he had expected Emily to live in a much more colourful and fanciful apartment, somehow. When he was wandering around in the rooms and noticed Emily's curious look, he gestured at the white walls.

"I was expecting a different choice of furnishing from you. More colours, more pink, more - personality."

Emily smiled sadly. "Like I said, it's Nick's apartment. I mean, we live here together now, but he doesn't really like changes... it kind of still looks the way it did before I moved in. Ah, there you are, sweetie!" She picked up a black cat that instantly started to purr under her touch. "Isn't he pretty?"

Loki tilted his head to the side and looked at the little animal. It locked its green eyes with Loki's green eyes and blinked at him.

"He likes you!" Emily said and Loki raised an eyebrow.

"How would you know that?"

"If cats blink at you, they like you", Emily explained.

When Loki slowly reached out to touch the furball in Emily's arm, the cat yawned, causing Loki to flinch slightly.

"You're scared!" Emily exclaimed, and Loki shook his head.

"Don't be absurd."

She giggled. "You thought he'd bite you!"

"I did not!"

"Oh my god", Emily snorted with laughter, "I can't believe that you're scared of my cat! Loki, the kick ass warrior, god of mischief, is scared of _a little cat_ -"

Loki shot her an indignant look. "I am not scared. But it did attempt to bite me."

"So you _were_ scared?"

He huffed and Emily kept giggling, still fondling Nolan's chin.

"He was yawning", she said eventually, "He'd never bite you. Try again. Come on, little god, be brave."

Loki was torn between discontent and amusement at Emily's teasing. When he reached out for the cat again to pet it, it began purring.

"See", Emily whispered, "He likes you."

"How lucky I am", Loki said sarcastically, but he had to admit that he enjoyed the soft fur beneath his fingers.

"You should be", Emily giggled, "He never liked Nick."

"Such a good cat", Loki praised, and Emily couldn't suppress a grin.

"Shall we go?" he asked, and Emily nodded.

"Um, yes, but we need his supplies, and they're quite - heavy -"

Loki smirked. "I think I will be fine with that."

Emily wandered through the rooms to pick up a few things, then turned to Loki.

"Could you - um - do your thing with his supplies? I'll call a cab for me and Nolan, cats aren't very fond of water and I don't think that he'd like the side effects of your teleporting thing."

When Loki was sitting on his bed half an hour later, eyeing the peculiar thing that Emily called a cat tree and the container that the poor cat was expected to pee into, he couldn't help but wonder how in the nine realms he had ended up in this situation. He was born as a future king, raised as a god and prince of Asgard, and now he was not only living with the mortals he had once tried to kill, but with a mortal girl's cat whose dung he would have to pick up, too. He shook his head slowly. He must have taken the wrong track somewhere.

But, he thought when he heard Emily knock and opened the door to look into her bright face, if he was given the choice, he would take the same wrong track over and over again.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Two hours later, they were sitting on Loki's couch with a glass of wine in their hands - asgardian for Loki, midgardian for Emily - and a purring Nolan was lying on Loki's lap, who petted the cat's head gently.

"He really likes you", Emily stated, and Loki smirked smugly.

"Who can blame him."

"You have no idea how grateful I am", Emily said quietly, reaching out a hand to caress Nolan's fur, "Sometimes I don't know what I'd do without you."

Loki didn't know how to react to that. Somebody who not only appreciated his presence but actually seemed to need it stirred something inside of his chest, and he felt slightly uncomfortable.

Emily seemed to misinterprete his silence.

"You think I'm pathetic, don't you?" she asked, and Loki looked at her in surprise. "I mean, because I stay with Nick - and even give away my pet for him -" She fell silent.

Loki struggled to find words. "That is not what I think", he said slowly, "But I do wonder why you stay with him. And why you let him command you the way you do."

Emily lowered her gaze. "It's complicated", she murmured, fiddling with the sleeves of her pullover.

"I am proud to tell you that I possess superior intelligence", Loki teased her, "Why don't you try to explain it to me?"

She stayed silent for a minute, still stroking Nolan, and then said quietly, "Can we please talk about that another time? Not today? I just don't - Can we just -"

Loki interrupted her. "Of course. I meant no offence." Emily watched him carefully and he noticed her nervous expression. "Let us change the subject, shall we? Nick is gone for a week and you should not burden yourself with him for that time."

She smiled at him and raised her glass. "Let's drink to my temporary freedom!" She blushed immediately. "I shouldn't have said that - I'm sorry -"

With a grin, Loki raised his own glass. "To your temporary freedom."

When they both had taken a few sips of wine, Emily's face suddenly lit up.

"Let's play 'I've never'!"

Loki frowned. "I beg your pardon?"

Emily chuckled. "I always forget that you're an ancient alien god."

"Sounds quite unforgettable, actually."

She stuck out her tongue. "Okay, so, it's a drinking game - you say something and everybody who's ever done that before takes a sip of wine. So I start and say "I've never had a pet wolf", and if you ever did have a pet wolf, you have to take a drink, if you did not, you can pass. And then it's your turn. You get it?"

Loki raised a brow. "I've never understood the rules of a midgardian drinking game due to the superior intelligence I possess", he said and downed his glass of wine.

Emily laughed out. "Well, okay. Um - I've never - been in Paris."

Loki frowned. "Do you plan to get both of us intoxicated?"

"I just wanted to check if you really got the rules", Emily grinned, taking a sip of her wine.

With a raised eyebrow, Loki said, "I've never said anything in this odd game for the mere purpose of taking a drink."

"Damn it! Cheers. Um - I've never cheated in a game."

Loki laughed before he took a big gulp. "I am the god of lies and mischief, darling." He thought for a second, then, undeniable mischief twinkling in his eyes, said, "I've never tried to murder Stark."

"Loki!" Emily exclaimed, half in shock, half in amusement.

Loki took a big sip of wine, looking very pleased with himself. Emily shook her head, then looked at him thoughtfully.

"I've never regretted trying to murder Stark."

With a deep growl, Loki took the tiniest sip of wine he could while it was Emily's turn to give him a pleased smile.

"I've never been smitten with Thor", Loki said, eyeing Emily curiously, and Emily just snorted.

"I've never - seen a unicorn", she said, looking at Loki expectantly, and Loki laughed out.

"There are no unicorns on Asgard, darling."

Emily pouted. "That's such a disappointment. I love unicorns."

The god looked at her for a second before he said, "I've never planned to take a mortal to Alfheim to show her the unicorns that live there."

He took a sip of wine, making Emily shriek in excitement.

"Really? There are unicorns on Alfheim? And you'd take me there?"

"As soon as I am allowed to go back to Asgard and the other worlds myself, of course."

He chuckled when Emily leaped up and started to dance with joy.

"Oh my god, that would be amazing!"

Loki watched her hopping up and down, amused by her childish behaviour. When she returned to the couch, she looked at him, grinning mischievously.

"I've never thought that human beings can actually be quite cool creatures."

Growling, Loki took a sip of wine.

"I've never been audacious enough to provoke a god", he said, shooting Emily an amused glance, and she laughed out before taking a sip.

For a few seconds, Emily didn't say anything. Then she eyed Loki suspiciously and said, "I've never had sex with a horse."

Loki burst into loud laughter. When he finallly managed to calm down again, he looked at her, still chuckling.

"How long have you been waiting to ask me that?"

Emily blushed. "A while. When we first met, you said you'd need more than a coffee to tell me about it -"

Loki laughed out again. "Is that why you wanted to play this game? And I will know if you lied to me!" Emily's face heated up, and Loki shook his head, still laughing heartily. "You could have just asked me, little one!"

He gave her a grin, slowly raised his glass and emptied it in one gulp.

Emily's eyes widened. "Seriously?"

Still grinning, Loki nodded. "That particular story of you mortals is shockingly correct, even though the circumstances have been slightly different."

Emily gazed at him. "Come on, tell me!"

Loki chuckled. "Well, we have been at war with Vanaheim and the general of their army had a very strong stallion, Svadilfari, that made him the fastest warrior in the nine realms. I had the idea of distracting his pet horse a bit and changed into a mare. But when I met Svadilfari I found myself to be delighted by his strength... A bit too delighted, maybe." Loki chuckled. "But my plan proved to be successful and Asgard won the war while I took great pleasure in distracting Svadilfari. I did not take the chance of pregnancy into consideration, though, and when I returned to the palace a few months later, I was the proud mother of Sleipnir."

Emily stared at him, her lips slightly parted. "You're mocking me, right?"

Again, Loki laughed out. "No. I promise."

"You are the mother of a horse?"

"I am."

"The _mother?_ "

"The mother."

"Of a _horse?_ "

"Of a horse."

Emily emptied her glass, and Loki chuckled.

"I did not say anything yet, darling."

She shook her head. "I know, but I really needed a drink."

Loki eyed her amused. "Did that shock you?"

"A bit, yes. I mean, not as in "Holy shit, I won't talk to you anymore", but as in... "Holy shit, my best friend fucked a horse"."

The god laughed out again. "That is a most vulgar way to put it. I am very proud of Sleipnir. He is much faster than his father could ever have dreamt of."

"And does he have eight legs?"

Loki grinned. "He does."

"Holy shit." Emily shook her head again. "Wait", she suddenly exclaimed, "Does that mean that you can shapeshift in any form you want?"

"It does", Loki confirmed.

"Could you -"

Loki chuckled. "I will not turn into a unicorn now."

"Damn it!" Emily pouted, and Loki smirked.

When Emily rose from the couch to go into the bathroom, she swayed a little, and Loki rushed to her side to catch her before she could fall down.

"Damn", she said, "I'm a bit drunk."

"Not just a bit", Loki said, "You do not seem to have a high tolerance for alcohol, even if it is midgardian one."

"I don't drink much", Emily admitted, "So when I do, I get drunk very, very quickly."

"Where do you want to go?" he asked, and Emily blushed.

"I just - I need to - um - to pee."

"I see. Do you require assistance?"

Emily stared at him. "Assistance with peeing?"

Loki rolled his eyes. "With walking into the bathroom."

"Oh. Um, no, I'm fine. You can trot back to the couch, Black Beauty."

She snickered and Loki shook his head, his amused gaze following the mortal girl until she left the room. When he looked at Nolan, who eyed him reproachfully for jumping up so fast, he grinned.

"Your little mistress really is adorable, isn't she?" he said, and Nolan meowed approvingly.

 


	17. Everything But Ordinary

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 of Emily's and Loki's sleepover :)  
> Trigger warning for domestic violence (physical and emotional abuse), please take care if these are sensitive topics for you.

When Emily returned from the bathroom and saw Loki sitting on the couch, she felt as if her heart was melting. Loki had picked up Nolan again and was holding him in his arms like a baby, rubbing his nose against Nolan's forehead. She watched them for a moment. Nolan was purring so loud that Emily could hear it from the other side of the room.

Loki looked up after a few seconds and caught Emily smiling at them. She sat down beside them and sniffed.

"Are you alright?" Loki asked suspiciously, and Emily nodded.

"Sure. I'm just - this means a lot to me. I can't thank you enough."

Loki returned her smile. "You do not have to thank me. Look at the little thing, Nolan and I are already friends."

Emily raised her eyebrows. "Don't get your hopes up, he's been castrated."

"You are quite sassy, my dear."

She giggled.

"Well", Loki said, "Do you have any other questions? I feel almost as intoxicated as Stark usually looks like, so now would be a good chance for you to ask them."

Emily grinned. "Do I really want to know more?" Then she became serious and looked at Loki, biting her lip. "Well, I do have a question", she said slowly, and Loki returned her look expectantly. "Why do you spend your time with me?"

Loki frowned. That was not at all what he had expected.

"We are friends, are we not?" he asked, and Emily shrugged helplessly.

"Yes we are, but - but _why_ are we friends?"

When Loki still just looked at her with utter confusion written all over his face, she shook her head.

"I don't know, I mean - I'm just some random, ordinary mortal. And you", she gestured at him, "You're _you_."

"You are not some ordinary mortal", Loki said, irritated, "Why would you say that? You are someone special, Emily." When she lowered her gaze, he reached out and lifted her chin. "You are an amazing, exceptional being. I am honoured to be your friend, and if one of us should be wondering why the other one graces him with his presence, it should certainly not be you."

She gave him a small smile. "And you're not lying now? Because -"

"I am not lying. Not to you, Emily. I promise."

For a second, Emily felt the sudden desire to lie down and nestle up to Loki's chest, to let him put his arms around her and hold her until she'd fall asleep. She quickly pushed the feeling away, confused about her own emotions. She'd really had too much wine.

Loki still watched her. "May I ask you a question, too?"

Emily smiled. "You may."

"A while ago you told me that you have met a few monsters in your life."

She felt herself stiffen a bit. Without looking at Loki, she nodded.

"Do you wish to tell me about them?"

Now Emily lifted her gaze to meet Loki's soft and careful look. For a while she was quiet while her fingers were playing with a stray curl. Loki watched her cautiously. He could see her struggling with herself, her eyes filled with haunting memories, and just when he was about to say something, she began to speak.

"My father was a very difficult person. He was very - violent-tempered, and you could never predict when he was going to snap the next time. It could happen anytime and anywhere - when I spilled a glass of juice or - or when he just thought that I was looking at him in the wrong way." Her voice was quiet, but strained, and she avoided Loki's gaze. "He was terrifying when he was angry. He yelled at me, insulted me. And he often beat me, too."

Loki suddenly felt a thick, painful lump in his throat.

"I still remember how I got sick at lunch once", Emily said quietly, "And I felt so - so bad, I just couldn't eat up. And Dad - he got so angry. He held me down, grabbed the food and stuffed it into my mouth. I thought I was choking, I threw up - but he still didn't stop. And he was screaming the whole time - that - that I was even too dumb to eat properly." She cleared her throat when her voice became shaky. "Later, my mom told me that he's just left when I'd blacked out. My mom called an ambulance." She let out a humourless laugh. "Turned out that there were peanuts in our lunch and that I'm  allergic. I would have died if Mom hadn't called an ambulance. Dad didn't even come to the hospital. I was eight."

Loki let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. He imagined the eight year old Emily, an innocent, sweet child, being beaten and tormented by her very own father. The mental image tore his heart to shreds and he closed his eyes for a second.

Emily, who has been gazing into space for a moment, suddenly looked up to meet Loki's eyes. She looked irritated.

"I've never told anyone about this before", she said, a mixture of confusion and shame on her face.

Loki gave his best to hide the fury inside of his chest that was still screaming at him to find her father and rip out his limbs.

"Thank you for telling me, then", he said softly, "I am honoured by your trust. Emily, I am so sorry for what you have endured."

Emily smiled faintly.

"Odin was certainly not an ideal father to me", Loki continued, "But he would never have beaten his children. On Asgard, this is considered a most despicable crime."

"You know, the worst thing wasn't the physical pain", Emily said, and her voice was shaking, "The worst thing was that I always tried to - to prevent it - I always tried to do nothing wrong so he wouldn't have to punish me - but I never failed to disappoint him. I just didn't get anything right, ever. Dad - Dad used to say that it must be a punishment from God to burden him with such a worthless child." She let out a huff. "Hey, maybe you should ask Odin if he's sent me!"

Loki looked at her. She smiled, but the smile did not reach her eyes and he could tell that she was trying to cover her tears with it.

"If you had been sent by a god, you would have most certainly been a gift", he said softly, and that was when Emily's tears began to fall down her face. Loki wiped them away gently. "There is nothing you could have done to change his behaviour, Emily. It was never about you, but about himself. He did not deserve a child as wonderful as you are."

Emily didn't say anything, but this time, the light smile on her face was genuine. Loki took her hand and squeezed it gently.

This explained quite a few of Emily's characteristics, he thought. Her lack of confidence in herself. The constant fear of doing something wrong. Her frequent apologies. He suddenly remembered how she had broken down when she'd had a problem with the cleaning company. _"I'm too worthless to manage something as simple as hiring new cleaners"_ , he heard her say, and he clenched his fists. Back then, he had been wondering why she would think so lowly of herself. Now he knew.

"Did your mother leave him?" Loki asked after a moment and Emily huffed.

"She would never leave him. As far as I know they still live together. I don't know for sure, though; Mom said that she wouldn't talk to me until I apologized to Dad for running away, and I'd rather cut out my tongue."

Loki looked at her questioningly.

"I ran away when I was 15 to live with my grandma", she explained, "My grandpa died when I was a kid, so my grandma was living alone and she was happy to let me live with her." Emily smiled. "My grandma was such a great and strong woman, you would have liked her. I had a really difficult time when I was a teenager, but she did a great job. She would have done anything for me, and I for her."

For a minute Emily fell silent, and when she continued to talk, her voice was bitter. "When I was 20, she was mugged on her way home from grocery shopping. Robbed", Emily added when she saw Loki's confused expression, "A man threatened to kill her if she wouldn't give him her money. It was filmed by a surveillance camera and later, the police told me that grandma had already given the man all of her money - but she refused to give him her wedding ring." Her voice broke. "He shot her."

"I'm so sorry", Loki said with a husky voice.

Emily touched her neck and pulled out her necklace from beneath her pullover. It held a beautiful silver ring embedded with a shining gemstone.

"The police gave it to me when they've found that bastard. I never take it off."

Loki touched it gently, then wrapped his hand around Emily's. She squeezed it a bit, thankful for the comfort his touch was giving her.

"How did you get along all alone?" he asked then.

"Not very well", Emily admitted, "After grandma's death, I became depressed. I did a lot of - bad things, mostly to myself. But at some point I pulled myself together. I got my life together, I found a job. And now I'm here."

She smiled, and Loki returned her smile, still holding her hand,

"I am sure your grandmother would be proud of you."

They sat in silence for a moment.

"I'm sorry", Emily said after a few minutes, "I guess I spoiled the mood."

Loki cocked his head. "You did no such thing. I am very honoured and glad you told me about your life. Besides, I was the one who asked you about it."

"True. Then _you_ spoiled the mood."

Loki chuckled. "I apologize."

"You are forgiven", Emily said with a grin, petting Nolan, who had left Loki's lap to lie down on Emily's when he'd heard her strained voice.

Loki watched her thoughtfully. This woman was everything but ordinary. She'd been through so much in her life and she was still this kind, gentle person; she'd seen so much of the darkness in this world and yet here she was, a girl that was brightening every room with her light.

When she felt Loki's eyes on her, Emily gave him a nervous look. "I hope you don't think too badly of me now."

Having just thought the exact opposite, Loki stared at her, completely taken aback. "Why would I think badly of you?"

She shrugged. "I just don't want you to think of me as pathetic. I mean", she added with a smirk, "even more pathetic than every other mortal."

He smiled warmly at her. "You are anything but pathetic. Believe me."

Emily looked at him doubtfully, but didn't say anything. She was still stroking Nolan and smiled when he curled up even more.

Loki watched her, lost in his thoughts. He understood why she was so self-conscious now, and it bothered him greatly.

"Can I ask you something about your life, too?" she asked shyly.

Loki nodded. He wasn't very keen on talking about his life, but Emily had just told her about her greatest secrets and he assumed that it was only fair if he did the same now.

Her voice was soft and cautious when she said, "You're adopted, right?"

Again, Loki nodded. This was still a sensitive topic for him, but he could understand Emily's curiosity.

"Asgard was at war with Jotunheim back then, and when Odin was about to leave after Asgard's victory, he found me in one of their temples. I was but a baby; my biological parents had left me there to die as a sacrificial offering."

Emily looked at him, horror written on her face, but she didn't say anything.

"Odin took me to Asgard and I grew up believing I was his son. I was already an adult when I found out by accident."

"That must have been hard for you", Emily said, and Loki showed a crooked smile.

"It was not very pleasant. Neither were the choices I have made afterwards."

"Choices made in difficult circumstances rarely are", Emily said quietly, and Loki nodded. "So your biological parents -"

"My biological mother remains unknown, she is presumably dead. My biological father was still very much alive when I found out about him, but since he had tried to kill me as a baby, I decided to turn the tables and murder him instead. And so I did."

Emily's eyes widened at this. Loki grinned.

"If you ever chose to dispose of your father, too, let me know. I would certainly enjoy to take care of it."

She couldn't help but laugh. "Lead me not into temptation, Loki." But then she became serious again. "Do you regret it?"

Loki raised his shoulders, but didn't answer. He didn't know, really. He did not truly regret Laufey's death, but there had been times where he had caught himself thinking that he should have asked him a few questions before.

"You know", Emily said carefully, "It was a good thing Odin and Frigga adopted you. Even if your biological father wouldn't have sacrificed you as a baby, I don't think you would have had a pleasant childhood if you'd stayed with him."

"I suppose you are right", Loki said thoughtfully, "And I assume I should be grateful for it. But Odin should have told me. He should not have raised me thinking of frost giants as cruel monsters only to let me find out that I am one myself."

"Frost giants?"

"That is what I really am. Jotuns are called frost giants." He laughed bitterly. "Blue skin, red eyes, horns. Not very appealing creatures."

Emily looked at him. "So what you look like now is - what is it?"

"When Odin picked me up, I changed into his form out of instinct, and I kept it, unknowing of my real heritage. In many ways, I consider it my true being, just like I consider Frigga to be my true mother. But my actual form is my Jotun form. Which I will not show you", he added before Emily could even say something, "Because I enjoy your company and do not wish to scare you away."

"I don't think you could ever scare me away", Emily said softly, "But you don't have to show me anything you don't wish to."

Loki nodded.

"Well, both our biological fathers don't win any prizes for good parenting", Emily stated, and Loki smirked.

"Most certainly not."

"Thank you for telling me about it, Loki."

Loki gave her a smile. "You are welcome."

It was strange, he thought, he'd never talked much about his heritage and he would never have thought that he might find it relieving to do so, but to tell Emily about it has made him feel strangely at ease with his past.

When Emily fell asleep on the couch half an hour later with Nolan curled up against her, it took all of Loki's self control to not pick her up and carry her into his bed to lie down next to her and hold her just like he'd done the last time. He took his blanket and tucked her in, planted a soft kiss on her head and then sat down on his bed, just watching her.

She was sleeping peacefully and Loki just couldn't take his eyes off of her. It was strange how she made him feel; somehow he seemed to be stronger and more vulnerable at the same time when she was around, and that didn't make any sense at all. On the other hand, it reflected Emily's personality perfectly - she was far from weak; in fact, Loki thought her to be one of the strongest persons he'd ever met, but there was no denying that she was very vulnerable, too.

He thought about her father and clenched his fists. Maybe he should actually try to find this wretched mortal and let him pay for what he had done to Emily. It was tempting, really, but somehow Loki was certain that Emily wouldn't approve of it.

Another thought crossed his mind. Emily had already told him that she didn't have any friends apart from him, and without her parents and her grandmother, who did she have left? Could this amazing, affectionate woman really be completely alone in this world?

Loki wondered if that could be the reason she was with Nick. Maybe she'd rather have somebody than nobody at all. But this pathetic excuse of a man was definitely most unworthy of her. Not only was he a very unpleasant person, but, as Loki suddenly realized, he was also taking advantage of Emily's weaknesses in a disgusting way. He finally understood why she was so obedient, why she would do anything Nick asked of her; why she quit her job for him and let him treat her the way he did without any complaints - she was simply used to it. She didn't know how to stand up for herself, or maybe she didn't even realize that she deserved much more than what Nick was giving her.

Well, Loki thought grimly, he would have to change that.

When he finally lay down in his bed, he was thinking about what Emily had said about his adoption. Yes, she was right, of course - he had been lucky to be taken away from Jotunheim by Odin. He'd never really thought about it this way. He still wouldn't forgive Odin for the way he's favoured Thor all these years or for not telling him the truth about his heritage, but he could feel a tiny glimpse of forgiveness spark inside of him. Odin might not have given him a perfect life, but at least he had given him a life at all.

He was still pondering about his past when he fell asleep, and when his last thought was the picture of Odin's face before he, Loki, had let himself fall from the Bifrost - _'No, Loki'_ Odin's voice echoed in his head, _'No, Loki. No, Loki. No, Loki.'_ \- the memories of what had followed his fall crawled into his dreams and turned them into nightmares.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Loki's scream was so loud and desperate that it cut through Emily like a knife. She was awake in an instant and ran over to Loki's bed as fast as she could. She turned on the lights and saw Loki flailing, yelling out words she could not understand, and without thinking twice Emily jumped into his bed and wrapped her arms around his jerking body as firmly as she could.

"Loki", she said loudly, "Loki, it's alright, nothing's wrong, you're safe!"

His elbow hit her face and for a second, she could almost see stars, but she gritted her teeth and ignored the pain.

"Loki, hey, wake up! You're having a nightmare! Loki!"

She shouted his name this time, and Loki leaped up from his sleep with a confused sound.

"Loki?" Emily said carefully, "Are you alright?"

Loki was sweating and panting, but his face was blank and he avoided Emily's gaze. He had realized that he'd been dreaming in a split second, and the fact that Emily had wakened him could only mean that he'd been talking or maybe even screaming in his sleep, which he found incredibly embarrassing. He hadn't been dreaming of this particular time of his life in a while. The last thing he wanted was to face Emily's pitying look now or, even worse, listen to her questions about his dreams.

"I'm fine", he said shortly.

Emily touched his arm lightly. "Are you -"

Loki pulled his arm away abruptly. "Yes, thank you", he said sternly, and Emily frowned.

She wasn't sure what she should do now - Loki obviously didn't want to talk about his dream, or even talk to her at all - but she still wanted to do something to make him feel more comfortable. Maybe she should get him a glass of water? She eyed him, but he was staring into nothingness and looked so cold and angry that she was almost scared to ask him. She swallowed hard and cleared her throat.

"Would you like -"

"Damn it, Emily", Loki snarled and turned around to glare at her, "Could you just - _by the norns, what happened?_ "

His angry glare had changed into a concerned look in a split second, and Emily furrowed her brows.

"You were dreaming", she explained, "I just wanted to know if you -"

"Was that me?"

Loki stared at her, and Emily returned the look, utterly confused.

"What?"

"Your face", he said, "Did I do that?"

"Oh", Emily said, "That. Well, yeah. Not on purpose, of course. Would you like a glass of -"

"Don't stand up", Loki said sharply, "Stay where you are."

He shifted closer to her, eyeing her face carefully, and Emily frowned.

"Loki, it's okay -"

Loki couldn't believe how calm Emily was. The left side of her face was blood-smeared; there was a gaping wound across her cheek and it must hurt like hell. He could feel a gnawing pain in his chest - _he had done that to her._

"Emily, I am so sorry", he said with a strained voice.

Emily smiled at him, though only one corner of her mouth managed to turn up.

"Don't worry, it was an accident. You had a nightmare and I hugged you to calm you down. It's okay."

"It is not okay! I - Well, hold still now -"

He let his hands wander over her cheek to heal the wound he had inflicted upon it. When he was done, he eyed her carefully.

"Are you okay?"

Emily shrugged. "Sure. Don't make such a fuss. How are _you_ , you -"

"Do not play this down, Emily! It must have hurt terribly!"

"It's okay, Loki", she asserted, "I've barely felt it. It wasn't so bad."

Loki glared at her. "Your face was smeared with blood!"

Emily rolled her eyes. "Well, I didn't even really notice it, I was worried about _you!_ And now it's gone, right?"

"Yes", Loki said, "But - I - I've never meant to -"

"I know", Emily said softly, trying to hide her impatience, "And you didn't, it was an accident. You were flailing and I decided to hug you, I guess it's more my mistake than yours."

"You should not come so close to me when I have one of these dreams! It's dangerous!"

Emily frowned. "One of these dreams? Do you have them regularly?"

Loki furrowed his brows and lowered his gaze. "I used to. I thought it was over now. Tonight was the first time I had one of them in a while."

Emily could feel that Loki didn't want to talk about it, so she just nodded and remained silent. She took his hand, though, and this time Loki didn't pull away.

After a few moments, Loki sighed. "We should go back to sleep. I apologize for waking you up and for almost smashing your skull."

She laughed out. "Don't be dramatic now." For a second, she struggled to find words, and then asked shyly, "Shall I stay with you? I mean, just - you know - maybe you feel better when - um -"

Loki looked at her. If she had been anybody else, he would have snorted, waved his hand dismissively and returned to his bed alone. But she wasn't anybody else.

"If you do not mind... I would appreciate it", he said quietly, and Emily gave him a warm smile.

And so they both slept in Loki's bed again. When they fell asleep, they were not touching except for Emily's hand on Loki's forearm, but it didn't take them long until they were huddling together in their sleep, and when Loki woke up the next morning, he was delighted to find Emily snuggled up to him again; her head on his chest and her arms wrapped around his waist.


	18. Living In A War Zone

"Anything you want to tell me, brother?"

Loki was sitting in the common room, drinking a coffee and waiting for Emily to return from wherever she wanted to buy "the best fucking pizza Loki's ever had". He didn't have the heart to tell her that it wouldn't be hard to answer this expectation since he's never had pizza before.

When he looked up at Thor, he raised his eyebrows questioningly.

"Well", Thor sat down and emptied Loki's coffee, and Loki let out a deep breath, "I heard voices from your chambers last night. And I saw you and Emily having breakfast this morning."

Loki shrugged. "So?"

" _So?_ Did she sleep in your rooms?"

"Yes. We had a sleepover."

Thor stared at his brother. "A sleepover?"

Loki rolled his eyes, "Can you hear this echo, too?"

"Loki, you can't take me for a fool -"

"I beg to differ. I have already done so for more than a millenium."

Thor shot him an annoyed glance. "I had to promise Father I'd take care that you're not going to get yourself into trouble while you're on Midgard. You've done so well, Loki, and now -"

Again, Loki rolled his eyes. "And now _what_ , Thor? What exactly do you think I'm doing?"

"You're obviously trying to seduce the girl!"

Loki snorted. "I do no such thing. In case you haven't noticed, Thor, the girl is already taken."

It was Thor's turn to snort now. "And I am sure you respect this mortal relationship enough to turn your back on your very own needs."

"Maybe not the relationship itself, but the woman you are talking about. I would never do anything that Emily would not approve of."

Thor eyed Loki carefully. "You have changed", he said eventually, and Loki cocked his head.

"You mean to tell me that you noticed that just now? You did not realize that I do not try to conquer this planet anymore, but try to protect it from any possible perils?"

"That is not what I meant", Thor said with a smirk, "You've become - _soft._ "

Loki snorted as if offended severely. "You will take that back right now."

"I will not", Thor beamed, "By the norns, I was worried that you might play on the girl and take advantage of her fondness of you, but it's worse - you have actual _feelings_ for her!"

"Will you hold your tongue now!"

Thor was just grinning at his brother.

"You still have to withhold yourself from courting her, though", he suddenly said, "Even if your feelings are sincere. I trust you know that."

"There are no feelings involved, sincere or insincere, thus -"

The blonde god didn't even listen to his brother. "Aw, my baby brother. In love with a mortal. After all the times you've been mocking Jane and me -"

When Loki closed his eyes to recollect himself, Thor used the opportunity to bend forward and ruffle Loki's hair lovingly. Loki grabbed his arm in a swift movement and squeezed it roughly.

"Do that again, dear brother, and I will rip out your arm."

Thor's grin widened as he sat back down. "Tony wins, then. Damn it."

Loki stared at him. "He wins?"

"Well, we might have made a wager on whether you've actually fallen for the girl or just want to -"

"It would be wise not to complete that sentence", Loki warned him.

Thor sighed. "I should have known. You wouldn't give your helmet to a woman you don't actually care for."

"I do care for Emily", Loki scowled, "Because we are _friends_. There are no romantic feelings of any kind involved in our connection."

"Sure", Thor grinned, "And you treat her just like you would treat any other friend of yours."

"Precisely."

At this very moment Emily burst into the room with two pizza boxes. When she saw Thor sitting at the table, she beamed at him.

"Hey Thor, did Loki tell you that he's adopted my cat? They're already best buddies, they're so cute together!"

"Do not say a word now", Loki breathed, and he gave his best to ignore the way Thor was smirking at him.

 

 

* * *

 

 

"It does taste less disgusting than it looks like", Loki admitted, and Emily grinned.

"Is that Loki-ish for 'It's the best fucking pizza in town'?"

Loki rolled his eyes. "It's the best fucking pizza in town", he growled with a deep, stern voice.

Emily squeaked. "Oh my god, I should have filmed that! Can you say it again? We can turn it into a commercial for the pizzeria! The slogan would be - um - _"Asgard-Approved! Even gods love this pizza!"_ We'd make a fortune!"

"No, we will certainly _not_ ", Loki said, an amused expression on his face.

Emily took another bite of her pizza. "I can't believe you don't have pizza in Asgard, anyways. Isn't it supposed to be heaven or something like that?"

"More something like that", Loki smirked, "But if you want to, I can take you there one day."

Emily nodded eagerly until she'd swallowed the piece of pizza inside of her mouth. "Of course, I thought that's settled, you've already promised to show me Alfheim, too."

Loki smiled. "I did."

"See. We're gonna go on a worlds tour."

Loki raised his eyebrows. "You want to see all the realms?"

"Sure! Well", Emily added, "Only the ones you can show me, of course."

Loki cocked his head. "Have you already seen every place on Midgard?"

Emily snorted. "I've never even left New York. Except for Paris, I mean."

"Really?" Loki asked, taken aback. "Why not?"

"Not everybody is born as a prince, little lambkin."

Loki could feel himself blush, and he wasn't sure if it was out of sudden, inexplicable embarrassment for his privileged heritage or because of her nickname that was somehow giving him an odd sensation.

"I see", he murmured, "We should do something about it, then. I am not even a midgardian and have already seen more of Midgard than you."

Emily grinned. "Well, I'm ready when you are. I'm still waiting for that trip to the Caribbean, after all. I bet you look fantastic in swim trunks."

They locked eyes for a split second, then Emily's face turned crimson and she covered her face with her hands.

"Oh god, I'm sorry."

Loki smirked. "No need to be sorry, you are absolutely right."

"I shouldn't have said that", Emily said embarrassed and Loki winked at her.

"I can prove how fantastic I'd look, if you want to."

"Stop", Emily giggled, still feeling awkward, "Don't make it even worse."

Loki took another slice of pizza to hide his smug grin.

"Well", he said eventually, "Are you ready for our first training lesson?"

"What? Today?"

"No", Loki rolled his eyes, "Let us start next year."

Emily stuck out her tongue. "I thought we could make something fun today. Like -"

"- Like learning to survive?"

"Oh come on, it's not like I'm living in a war zone!"

Loki huffed. "If you did, you were lost, that is certain."

Emily grinned at him. "Let's make a deal. First, we go to the zoo, then you teach me how to hurt people."

The dark-haired god raised an eyebrow.

"First, it is not about hurting people, it is about teaching you how to not get hurt yourself. And then, what in Odin's name is the zoo?"

"Oh, that's a place where, um, you can see a lot of animals, I mean, exotic animals that usually don't live here. I haven't been there since I was a child, I've always wanted to go there again. Nick doesn't like animals, so he wouldn't come with me, and - well, it just sprang to my mind -"

Loki frowned. "You want to go there to see animals?" When Emily nodded, he grinned. "I can turn into any animal you wish to see, darling."

Emily laughed out. "So you'll turn into a unicorn now?"

Loki let out a deep breath. "Let us go to your zoo, then."

 

 

* * *

 

 

  
The afternoon was a most pleasant surprise. They spent a few hours in the zoo where Emily showed Loki the different kinds of animals and he was delighted to see her so happy. He had to admit that he found it quite interesting to see the various species of Midgard, too, and Emily seemed to know almost everything about every single one of them and she enjoyed to share her knowledge.

When they returned to the tower, they went into Loki's apartment to look after Nolan, who had used the time of their absence to sharpen his claws on Loki's black leather couch. Emily was mortified.

"I am so, so sorry", she said for the fifth time, and Loki shook his head, grinning.

"Emily, stop apologizing now, will you?"

"But I'm _really_ sorry. I will pay -"

Loki chuckled. "You will do no such thing. Look -" He waved his hand, and the leather was smooth and in one piece again, "Tada."

Emily stared at the spot, then lifted her gaze to look up at Loki. "Holy shit, that's handy. I always forget about that."

She went into the kitchen to fill Nolan's feeding dish, and while Nolan was meowing impatiently, Loki eyed the cat food suspiciously.

"That looks utterly disgusting."

Emily laughed. "Well, yeah. It's cat food."

"I thought cats eat mice."

"So you planned to catch him a few mice everyday?"

Loki raised an eyebrow. "He cannot catch them himself? What kind of a predator is he?"

Emily turned around to look at him, obviously amused. "Where the hell would he find mice in your apartment?"

The god hummed thoughtfully. "So I am supposed to give him this obnoxious slop daily?"

"Yeah. Um, Actually, not just once a day."

Loki sighed and knelt down to pet the cat's head compassionately.

"If I was fed with this sludge, I would certainly decide to destroy my feeder's furniture, too."

Emily shot him an amused glance. "He likes it. Look -"

She put the food on the ground and Nolan started gobbling it down greedily.

Loki shook his head in disbelief. "Midgardian animals are just as peculiar as midgardians themselves."

Emily just grinned.

When her phone made a noise, it took her grin a split second to turn into a terrified expression.

"Oh fuck", she whispered, and Loki frowned.

"What is it?"

She sat down on Loki's couch, still staring at the display of her phone.

"Emily, what is wrong?"

"We're on Twitter", she said tonelessly, and Loki raised an eyebrow.

"I beg your pardon?"

"We - Twitter is a website - and somebody recognized you in the zoo - look -"

She showed Loki her phone. There was a picture of Emily and him, walking through the zoo together.

Loki shrugged. "Stark has warned me that there are a few crazed mortals who might try to follow me." He smirked smugly. "Mostly women, by the way."

Emily looked up at Loki with a tormented expression. "You wouldn't believe what they write about us."

She showed him her phone and he frowned when he read the messages.

"By the norns, this is ridiculous", he murmured, then he suddenly smirked smugly, "Oh, I like this one - somebody said _'Looks like he's found somebody he can make kneel before him now'_. I did not know you mortals can be so obscene -" When he looked up to see Emily's distressed face, his grin vanished. "Why does this bother you so much?"

"Because Nick sent me the link! He's as mad as hell!"

Emily was pale. She took her phone back and stared at the display of her phone as if she couldn't believe her own eyes.

"Well - but there is nothing to see", Loki objected, "We are just walking side by side -"

"Nick is going to lose it! He's -" She fell silent when her phone made another noise. "No, he's already lost it", she whispered.

Loki tried to glance at her display, but he couldn't read the message.

"Is he going to come back sooner?" Loki asked, and Emily shook her head.

"He can't leave, this business trip is really important."

"Then do not fret", Loki suggested casually, "He cannot still be angry in a week, can he?"

Emily didn't answer. When her phone made another noise, she took a deep breath.

"Nick's calling. Can I - can I go to the other room?"

"Of course", Loki said, looking after her when she left the room.

He felt a bit guilty considering that he would be able to hear every single word from the other room, too, but he was too curious about the phone call to not listen to it.

When he heard Emily answer the phone _("Hey, Nick, I was just about to call you!")_ , Loki frowned. She clearly tried to sound as cheerful as she possibly could, but it sounded put on and there was not a hint of the levity and lightheartedness that he was used to hear in her voice.

"Yes, I've seen that - please Nick, that's nothing - no, of course not!"

She was silent for a while and then said, "Look, Loki did me a favour, he took Nolan - yes, of course, you wanted me to, right? Of course I did. Well, Loki took him - and then he said that he's always wanted to visit the zoo -"

Loki raised his eyebrows at this blatant lie. He was impressed, actually.

"I thought I owed him that much - no, I'm home now. Of course not. No, we were just in the zoo for a few hours. No! He didn't! - Oh, I - I was just about to read a book."

Another little break, and then Emily spoke again, near to crying now. "I'm sorry, Nick, it won't happen again - I promise - no, I didn't - you know I didn't! - I love you too, Nick." Her voice sounded feeble and shaken when she said the last words. "Yes - no I won't - okay. I miss you, too."

The call seemed to be over now, but Emily didn't return into Loki's living room. He waited for a few minutes, but he couldn' hear a single sound from the other room, and he was uncertain if he was supposed to disturb her now. He was relieved when Nolan made the decision by meowing and scratching at the closed door. When Emily heard her cat, she opened the door and came out of the room, her eyes glistening and her skin reddish, but she smiled as she always did. She leant down to pick up Nolan and then sat down on the couch. Loki noticed that she avoided his gaze.

"Emily?" he said gingerly, and Emily finally looked up at him.

"It's okay", she smiled, but it looked like a pathetic caricature of her usual warm smile, "We talked about it. It's fine."

"You do not seem fine", Loki stated, and Emily shrugged.

"What did Nick say?"

"He wasn't too happy, but it's fine."

"Emily", he started, but Emily interrupted him.

"Believe me, Loki, I'm fine! Now let's talk about something else, please!"

Loki looked at her. He wouldn't let her get away without pressing her a bit this time.

"Emily, it is quite hard to believe you when I know for a fact that you are lying to me."

Emily's cheeks turned red and she opened her mouth helplessly without the slightest clue of what she should say to that.

"Just tell me what the problem is", Loki urged her gently.

Emily looked at Nolan. She suddenly showed great interest in his whiskers.

"Emily", Loki said quietly, "Tell me. What is wrong?"

Emily took a deep breath. "I feel so bad", she whispered, and Loki sat down on his bed, opposite to Emily.

"Why?"

"I just lied to Nick." She hesitated and then said, "I told him that I've only been in the zoo because you wanted to, and even worse, I told him - that I'm back at home now. I even told him that I was about to read a book when he called me." She cleared her throat. "God, I'm a terrible person. It's no surprise that Nick doesn't trust me."

Loki furrowed his brows. "Well, yes, you did lie to him. But that was only because of his behaviour - Emily, don't you see how Nick -"

He fell silent and pressed his lips together. He did not have the right to judge her relationship.

Emily seemed to know what he'd wanted to say. "He's not always like this", she repeated what she had already told him once, "and -"

"And he's already done so much for you", Loki murmured.

Emily lowered her gaze. "He really did", she said quietly, "I owe him so much."

"And that's why you stay with him?" Loki asked in disbelief, and Emily shook her head.

"Of course not."

 _Then why_ , Loki wanted to yell at her, _why do you stay with this person?_

"Didn't we have a deal that we're not going to talk about him while he's away?" she asked carefully.

"But there is obviously something wrong, why do you -" When he saw Emily's expression, Loki gritted his teeth. "Fine."

"Please don't be angry now", Emily mumbled, fiddling with the sleeves of her pullover.

Loki closed his eyes for a second. He had to find out what it was she wouldn't tell him, but he decided that he wouldn't press her anymore today.

"I already feel so guilty for lying to him", Emily added, looking miserable, and Loki's face softened.

"Don't feel guilty about that. It's not as if you were doing anything wrong while you are with me."

Emily gave him a doubtful look. "You mean it's not wrong to lie to him?"

He hesitated for a second. "Mutual trust is important in a relationship", he said slowly, "But I believe that at this moment, it is more important for you to do what is good for you, regardless of Nick's emotions, who obviously does not care much about your emotions either."

Emily suddenly smiled. "Maybe I shouldn't have asked the god of lies for his opinions on lies", she joked, and Loki smirked.

"Well", he said eventually to change the topic, "Are you ready for our lesson?"

Emily pouted. "Now? It's already late - and well, actually I wanted to stay here to be there for Nolan, right, and we have barely been here today - why are you grinning?"

"Because you are unwilling to work with me."

"Oh - well, I just - Loki, I will suck terribly at this!"

"Which is why we have to practice", Loki grinned, and Emily rolled her eyes.

"Well, fine. But not today? Please?"

"Do not give me that look, young lady! We will start tomorrow after breakfast, and no more excuses!"

Emily beamed, and Loki shook his head, quite amused.

"What are we going to do now? Do you wish to get me intoxicated again to pose questions about my sexual experiences?"

She turned red immediately and giggled awkwardly. "I don't think my head can take another drinking orgy."

Loki cocked his head. "An orgy, you say?"

"Stop teasing me, Loki! Hey, you know what? Didn't Tony tell you about Star Wars?"

Loki nodded.

"Let's watch the movies!" Emily exclaimed, and Loki frowned.

"There is more than one?"

Emily giggled. "Oh dear. I hope you have a lot of coffee here."

 

 

* * *

 

 

"Well, the representation of the outer space is not at all accurate, I have noticed innumerable mistakes considering -"

"Holy shit, watching Star Wars is much more fun without an actual alien sitting next to you", Emily muttered, and Loki stuck out his tongue.

"Hey!" Emily exclaimed, "You stuck out your tongue! I so have a bad influence on you!"

Loki smirked. "And everybody assumed it would be the other way around."

They'd watched three of the movies and even though Loki wouldn't stop complaining about the mistakes, Emily knew very well that he found the movies surprisingly entertaining. When she had already fallen asleep during the last movie; leaning against Loki's shoulder, he'd decided to turn off the TV and carry her into his bed. He had slept on the couch; he'd thought that Emily might feel less guilty towards Nick if they didn't share a bed, and she had thanked him this morning, rather guiltily, for leaving his bed to her.

They've just finished their breakfast and were now on their way to the training rooms, much to Emily's distaste. When they both stepped out of the elevator, she let out a deep sigh and Loki shot her an amused glance.

"Do not behave as if I was about to murder you. I am merely planning to show you how to avoid that."

"Fine", Emily sighed, and Loki grinned.

They stepped into the common training room and Loki huffed when he looked around.

"This equipment is purely pathetic. But it is perfect for you."

"Well, thank you", Emily said, cocking her head.

Loki planted himself in front of Emily. "Let us start."

"Can't wait."

He furrowed his brows. "Be serious, now", he chastised her, and Emily nodded.

"Good", Loki said and eyed her. "Now hit me."

Emily stared at him. "What?"

"Hit me", Loki repeated, "Hit my chest."

"I - I can't hit you -" Emily stammered, and Loki raised a brow.

"Why not?"

"I don't want to hurt you!"

Loki laughed out. "I will take that risk."

"Loki, I can't!"

He cocked his head. "Just raise your hand, clench your fist like this - very well - and now hit me. Come one, do it. No, do it right. That was a tickle, little one. Hit me with all your power! That cannot be all your power, I barely felt that. Again! By the norns, that is pathetic, Emily!"

Emily was giggling. "I told you I can't do that."

Loki shook his head discontentedly. "You could at least try. Think of me as somebody who wants to hurt you, and now hit me! Was that really all you got?"

Emily shrugged. "Yeah, I told you I'll suck at this."

Loki gritted his teeth. "Let us try something else for now. If somebody grabbed you like this - what would you do?"

He put his arms around Emily from behind and she made a few pathetic attempts to free herself from his grip by trying to wriggle out of his embrace. Then she shrugged and giggled again.

"I guess I'd be screwed."

Loki turned her around in a swift movement to face her, anger written on his face.

"Damn it, Emily, this is serious!"

Emily jerked back and her eyes widened.

Loki regretted his outburst immediately. "I apologize. I did not mean to yell at you."

Emily bit her lip, still watching Loki insecurely.

"Why is this so important to you?" she asked, confused, and Loki ran his hands through his hair.

"Because if anybody would ever try to hurt you, you would not be able to fight back, and -"

She raised her shoulders. "And?"

"And that is not acceptable, Emily! I will not let anything happen to you!"

Emily stared at Loki. She suddenly felt a lump in her throat that she couldn't explain and she tried hard to swallow it down. A heavy feeling clutched her heart and she broke eye contact, not able to look into Loki's eyes that were showing his fierce determination to protect her, mixed with tenderness and something else that Emily couldn't name. She could not remember the last time that anybody had cared so much about her wellbeing just for her very own sake. Or genuinely cared about her at all.

"Why are you crying?" Loki suddenly said, horrified.

"I'm not", Emily sobbed out.

Loki took a step towards her and then stopped, not sure if she even wanted him any closer at the moment.

"I did not mean to scare you", he said as gently as he could, "You know that I would never hurt you, don't you?"

Emily struggled to fight back the tears that were streaming down her face without any logical reason. She couldn't explain Loki why she was suddenly crying - how could she if she didn't even understand it herself?

Loki eyed her ruefully. "Emily, I -"

 _Lost for words_ , Loki thought, _seriously, Silvertongue?_

He'd never meant to scare Emily the way he obviously had, he was just so frustrated with this ridiculous amount of strength she had just shown him. If this was really all she had, she was shockingly easy prey for every single outlaw on Midgard.

"Do you want me to leave?" he asked quietly, but Emily shook her head frantically, which confused him even more. He just stood there, his arms hanging beside his body, watching her and feeling completely useless.

And then, Emily suddenly took a quick step towards Loki and flung her arms around him.

For a second, an utterly confused Loki stared down at the little mortal that was clinging to his body until he put his arms around her, too, and pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Thank you", Emily whispered, and Loki, completely baffled, started to stroke her hair gently when he asked, "What for?" without even realizing that he was whispering, too.

It felt as if his heart was shattering into a thousand pieces when Emily said, "For caring about me."


	19. The Damsel In Distress

Do you remember the selfie that Emily took when she tried on Loki's helmet?  
The incredibly talented Lizarr has drawn it, and I am so madly in love with this picture!! I just had to share it with you. I feel so honoured that she's taken the time to draw this and I'm delighted with Emily's look, because it's exactly how I've imagined her.  
So, hold your hats, or helmets, or whatever it is you're wearing, because here it comes, "the most fabulous picture ever taken"!

 

 

Again, thank you so much, Lizarr! Please check out the original picture [here](https://lizarr7.deviantart.com/art/Selfie-735669525) on her DeviantArt account.

 

*****

 

"Nolan? By the norns, where is this little mischievous creature -"

Loki strutted through the corridor, looking into every room and muttering to himself. He didn't even notice Tony walking towards him until they almost crashed.

"Whoa, hey, what's wrong, Vader?"

Loki rolled his eyes. "I am looking for my cat. And if you intended to label me as a villain by calling me Vader, you should reconsider your choice of a nickname, because in the end it is indeed Vader who is responsible for the victory over the Empire."

Tony's chin dropped. "What the fuck, Ani, did you watch Star Wars?"

"I did."

Tony frowned. "Wait, did you say you were looking for your cat?"

"I did."

"Since when do you have a cat?"

"Since last week."

Tony shook his head in disbelief. "You got yourself a kitty?"

Again, Loki rolled his eyes. "It's Emily's cat, actually, but her boyfriend wanted her to give it away, so I took it in. And it keeps running away as soon as I open the door of my apartment."

"Did it ever occur to you to ask before you let animals move into my building?"

"No."

Tony shrugged, "Just checking."

Loki opened another door. "Nolan?"

"You know, there really are better ways than looking into every single room if you are searching a skyscraper for a little kitty."

The god crossed his arms. "Is that so?"

"Yup. J.A.R.V.I.S.? Is there a cat in the building?"

Immediately, a kind voice answered, "Yes, sir, there is a cat in the common room. It is currently lying on Ms. Bloomfield's lap."

Tony smirked at Loki, who pressed his lips together.

"Well, that was a better way", he admitted reluctantly and turned around to take the elevator.

"You're welcome", Tony said, still grinning, "Give your kitty a kiss from me."

When Loki entered the common room, Emily was sitting on the couch, reading a book and petting Nolan who was lying on her lap. He lifted his head when he heard footsteps, and meowed loudly to greet Loki.

"Do not act all innocently now", Loki chastised the cat, "Why do you keep running away?"

"I told you he can be mischievous", Emily smiled, "He loves to run away. Maybe you should just let him roam the tower during the day."

Loki fondled Nolan's chin and looked at Emily. "I thought that too dangerous."

She grinned. "You're worried about him? You really like him, don't you?"

He huffed. Nolan had been living with him for more than a week now, and he had to admit that he was an interesting and quite entertaining company. He even enjoyed the way the cat was curling up on his lap at night, even though he was never going to tell or admit that to anybody. He decided that it was time to change the subject.

"How was your weekend?"

He knew that Nick had come back from his business trip three days ago, and Emily had been slightly nervous all day. But now she beamed at him.

"It was great. Nick's trip was really good, he's about to get a promotion and well, he's quite happy at the moment. We went out for dinner in our favourite restaurant and had such a great weekend. He's going to pick me up this evening, too, we're going to the cinema."

Somehow, Loki was not as relieved about this as he'd expected himself to be. He suddenly pictured Emily and Nick together as a happy, loving couple, and it gave him a strange feeling.

But he smiled at her. "I am glad to hear that."

Emily returned his smile. "See, everything's fine. I told you."

Loki nodded.

When she looked back down at Nolan, she grinned. "I'm so happy you two get along well."

Loki nodded again, and Emily frowned. "Is everything alright?"

He smiled at her. "Sure." When Emily still looked at him doubtingly, he added, "I will begin my training with the russian, soon. I do worry that I might accidentally murder her. It would be most unfortunate for I think it would slow down my progress with the Avengers."

Emily laughed. "I dare you, I bet I'd be the one responsible for all the paperwork."

Loki cocked his head, grinning approvingly. "I think I might have a bit of an influence on you, after all. That pleases me."

 

 

* * *

 

 

"You look miserable, brother."

Loki shot an annoyed glance at Thor. "It is impossible for me to ever look as miserable as you do, Thor."

"Hey!" Thor looked rather offended and slapped his brother's shoulder. "You're missing your girl, huh?"

Loki rolled his eyes. "Would you stop that?"

"Oh, come on now! She basically lived here for an entire weekend -"

"- which was because of her cat."

"- And then she spent almost every evening here with us for a whole week -"

"- because she was alone at home and bored."

"- And now that her boyfriend is back, she calls in sick for the entire week. I bet I know what they're up to." Thor winked at Loki. "No surprise you're in the pouts!"

Loki crossed his arms. "I am in no such thing. Leave me alone now, Thor."

At this moment, Tony and Natasha entered the common room.

"Wow, you look miserable, buddy", Tony said, and Thor grinned.

"He's missing his girlfriend."

Loki stood up from the couch he'd been sitting on. "By the norns, you are more unpleasant company than a bilgesnipe."

"She's much better already", Natasha said, ignoring the bickering, "She'll be back next week."

Loki looked at her. "Did you talk to her?"

Natasha nodded. "I went to visit her yesterday. She's feeling better and told me to say hello to you all."

Tony shook his head. "I still don't understand why Madam Pomfrey here doesn't just go and heal her."

Natasha raised her eyebrows. "I asked her the same question. Looks like her boyfriend isn't exactly a fan of Loki."

Tony snorted. "The feeling is quite mutual."

Loki rolled his eyes, but Natasha eyed him curiously. "You don't like him?"

"No", he said firmly, "I don't." When he felt Natasha's gaze lingering on him, he frowned. "Why?"

She crossed her arms. "I'm not very fond of him, either. He came to pick her up a few days ago. Not my type of person. And when I said that she's not gonna need a bodyguard anymore as soon as she's finished Loki's self defence training, he got angry and told me that he was the one to protect his girlfriend. He seems to think that women don't need to know how to defend themselves. Idiot."

Tony and Thor stared at Loki. Tony was the first to open his mouth.

"You give Emily self defence lessons?"

Loki raised his shoulders. "Yes. She's pathetically weak and considering her workplace, I thought a few fighting skills were only appropriate." He looked at Natasha. "How do you know about that?"

She winked at him. "You're not the only one the girl talks to."

Loki huffed and again, Natasha winked at him.

"I think it's a good idea. And I doubt that this bighead she calls her boyfriend would be much help if she needed protection, anyways."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Don't fuel Frosty's aversion against the guy, now. He's already on to him."

"I'm just saying", Natasha retorted, "I didn't like the guy, and his macho talk didn't make it any better. And you -", she raised her brow at Tony, "- only like that asshamster because he's your biggest fanboy."

Both Loki and Thor smirked at this, and Tony crossed his arms.

"Just because somebody finally appreciates my exceptional genius and -"

Loki flicked his hand and Tony, suddenly talking in a high-pitched voice, shot him an angry look. "Don't use your - stop that - Thor!"

Natasha and Thor were guffawing at Tony's pathetic mickey mouse voice, and Loki patted Tony's back with a pitying smirk.

"I apologize. It seems I cannot understand the words of such an exceptional genius as you are, Stark."

 

 

* * *

 

 

Despite of what he had told Thor, Loki couldn't deny that he was happy to see Emily again when she returned to work in the following week. It had been a strange week; the days had felt empty and pointless without her around. After a few days of her absence, Loki had had to admit to himself that he was indeed missing her sorely. When he'd realised that, he'd been left in disbelief - how in Odin's name could he have let a mortal become so close to him? But he had shrugged the feeling off at some point. He was surrounded by mortals and Emily was one of the few he actually thought of as a friend; it was but natural to miss her when she was gone for a week. Besides, Emily was clearly an exceptional mortal - that made his affection for her much less pathetic.

When she finally came back to work and he heard her shout his name from the elevator, he couldn't help but feel a wave of joy and delight well up in his heart as he turned around and looked into her beaming face.

"Hello, little one."

"Hi, tall one." She grinned. "How are you?"

" _I_ am fine, but how are _you?_ "

Emily shrugged. "Same here. You know, you should really get a phone one day."

Loki frowned. "A phone? What would I need a phone for?"

"Well, it could be handy when, for example, your favourite mortal is sick at home for a week and wants to talk to you", she said, and Loki smirked.

"That is quite the convincing argument."

"Really?" Emily beamed at him, "You're going to buy one?"

Loki had no idea where to buy a phone, but he supposed that it shouldn't be a problem.

"I might consider it if you are ever sick again."

Emily smiled. "Did Tasha say hello to you?"

Loki nodded. "I heard that Nick allowed her to visit you."

She blushed. "He doesn't like her either, actually. But it's not as bad as - um -"

"As with me?" Loki suggested, and Emily's cheeks reddened even more.

"If you are ever sick again, I will not restrain from healing you, darling, regardless of Nick's pathetic feelings. I still cannot believe he would rather let you suffer than allow me a short visit. If it had not been for your sake, I would have ignored his wretched order."

Emily didn't answer, and Loki eyed her cautiously.

"Is there still anything left I should heal?"

"No need to", Emily said, smiling.

Loki suddenly remembered what else Natasha had said about Nick.

"The russian said that she's told Nick about our lessons", he said carefully, and Emily's cheeks turned crimson as she lowered her gaze.

Loki huffed. "So he freaked out?"

"No, it's fine", she mumbled, and Loki frowned.

"That was a lie", he stated suspiciously, and Emily began fiddling with the sleeves of her pullover.

"Well, he wasn't thrilled", she admitted reluctantly, and before Loki could even ask another question, she quickly added, "But he was so nice when I was sick, he even bought me flowers, can you believe that? He's never bought flowers for me before!"

Loki found it rather unbelievable that this man had never bought his girlfriend flowers before - how in Odin's name were mortals courting, anyways? - but he chose not to say anything.

Emily eyed him cautiously. "It's fine, really", she repeated, and Loki took in a deep breath.

"You tell me that everything is fine almost as much as you apologize", he stated, and it was supposed to be a jest, but he frowned when he realized that it was true, really - she _did_ tell him everything was fine quite often, and most of the times, this was a blatant lie. "You do know that you can tell me if anything is wrong?" he added, and Emily turned crimson again.

"Yeah, sure", she murmured, avoiding his gaze, and Loki eyed her suspiciously.

"Why would you not tell me, then?"

Emily crossed her arms defiantly. "There's nothing to tell - I'm -"

Loki interrupted her. "Do not tell me that you are fine now. I know that there is something wrong, little one. I can feel it. Do tell me what it is."

"There is nothing wrong!"

Loki felt a hint of anger rise inside of him. "That was another lie."

Emily's cheeks were still red and she shook her head slowly. "Don't do that", she murmured.

"Do what?"

"Read my thoughts."

Loki laughed. "I don't read your thoughts. I can merely feel that something is wrong, and I wonder why you do not -"

"It's nothing!" Emily hissed, and Loki looked at her, slightly startled by her sudden defiant demeanour, and raised his eyebrows. "I'm so sorry", she said uneasily, "I didn't mean that. I'm sorry, Loki. I'm just a bit - tense today."

"Very well", he said, raising his shoulders.

He felt a bit sore. He had thought that Emily trusted him, yet here she was - clearly hiding something away from him, even lying at him because of whatever it was she didn't want to tell him.

His feelings must have been obvious despite his blank face, because Emily gave him another apologetic look.

"Loki, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to lie to you, and I didn't mean to be snappy. It's not that I don't trust you, I do, but I'm just - it's just Nick again, and I didn't want to bother you with that."

Loki frowned. "What is it?"

Emily lowered her gaze. She looked miserable.

"Well, for one thing", she said reluctantly, "He was _really_ not thrilled about our lessons. He wants me to stop them, and he also wants me to sever all contact with you. I mean, he's been asking me to do that for a while, actually. And for another thing, he still wants me to quit my job."

Loki shook his head in disbelief. "I thought you have made it clear that you would not quit."

"That's what I thought, too", Emily mumbled, "But Nick seems to think differently."

Loki snorted.

"You should leave him", he suddenly heard himself say.

Emily looked up at him with widened eyes. "Don't say that."

"Why not?"

"Because - well, because - Nick loves me, and I love him! We had such a lovely weekend when he came back from his trip - it was just like it used to be, you know?"

"And then -", Loki said, "- when he heard about our lessons, he turned back into the jealous, demanding simpleton who would like to lock you up in his apartment so no other man could ever catch a glimpse of you again."

"That's just because he loves me. He's scared to lose me", Emily explained, and Loki nodded at this.

"He should lose you! He does not deserve you!"

Emily shook her head. "You don't know what you're talking about", she mumbled, avoiding his gaze.

"Then tell me!"

Loki's voice had become loud, and he was glaring at Emily.

"Hey, what's the matter here?"

Natasha had just stepped out of the elevator and stared at Emily and Loki.

Emily looked at her and Natasha was surprised to see tears in her eyes.

"Nothing, everything's fine", she murmured, "I really need to go to work now."

She turned around and stepped into the elevator without looking at either of them again.

When she was gone, Natasha narrowed her eyes at Loki. "What was that about? I heard you yell at her."

Loki ran his fingers through his hair. "None of your concern, widow."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Fine. We'll start our training today, so save your anger for that and you might even stand a chance against me."

Loki snorted and Natasha gave him a smirk.

When she'd already turned away, she looked back at Loki.

"Oh right, I forgot. Since we share our dislike of Emily's boyfriend, I thought I let you know that I got him checked through and they didn't find anything. He has a clean slate." She eyed Loki and shrugged. "Yeah, I was a bit disappointed, too. I could have sworn there's something wrong with him. I still think so", she added, "He might just be good at hiding it."

Loki frowned. "The others do not think that there is anything wrong with him at all. They interprete my aversion against him as nothing more than mere jealousy."

Natasha shrugged. "I'm not jealous at all and I share your aversion. But well, Emily says she's happy with him. It's up to her, I guess."

When Natasha left, Loki slowly walked into the common room. Of course he'd never tell the widow, but he did feel a hint of relief and even appreciation at her scepticism of this guy. Thor and Tony had both shrugged his doubts off as induced by jealousy, and it was a nice change to know that someone actually shared his dislike.

He had to talk to Emily, though. He'd obviously pressed her too hard, and she'd seemed quite distressed when she'd left. When she was going to come to their coffee break later, he would try to make up for this.

Loki had just made himself a cup of coffee when he hit on an idea.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Emily entered the common room carefully a few hours later, and she scanned the room until her eyes met Loki's. She bit her lip when she approached him.

"I'm so sorry", she said nervously, "I didn't want to be all bitchy this morning -"

Loki raised an eyebrow. "As usual, you have no reason to apologize. I have pressed you, which has not been my intention, thus I apologize."

Emily smiled. "So we're cool?"

The god chuckled. "Yes, we're cool. We are _always_ cool, Emily."

When the girl sat down at Loki's table, she furrowed her brows before her face lit up.

"Is that yours?" she exclaimed, and Loki smirked.

"It is", he confirmed and took the phone he'd purchased an hour ago, "I thought that it might be handy if my favourite mortal is ever sick again. Or if anything else might be wrong with her."

Emily beamed at him, blushing a little. "Do you know how it works?"

Loki huffed. "It is a rather archaic technology, compared to the advanced asgardian -"

"So you have no idea."

For a second, Loki remained silent. "I might be in need of a short instruction."

It didn't take Emily long to explain Loki how his new phone worked. She'd just saved a few phone numbers - Tony's, the Avenger Tower's hotline, their favourite pizza delivery service's and her own - and showed him how to call or message his contacts, when she suddenly smirked.

"You know what, you need a nice wallpaper. Wait a second."

Loki frowned. "A wallpaper?"

"Yeah, that's a picture you'll have on the display - it should be something you want to see every day, something fabulous, and I happen to have the most fabulous picture ever taken on my phone."

She tapped on her and Loki's phone a few times before she handed it back to Loki, who took it, looking rather suspiciously. When he looked down at the phone, he couldn't help but smile. He and Emily were beaming at him from the display - she had used the selfie she'd taken of them a while ago when she had been wearing his helmet.

"That's my favourite picture ever", Emily smirked, and Loki looked up at her.

"It is truly fabulous", he agreed, looking back down to the phone.

He didn't seem to be able to take his eyes off of it. Emily looked so happy and confident at his side, and Loki suddenly realized how close they had been standing; he'd even had his arm around her shoulder, and he could almost feel the warmth of her body just by looking at the picture. And Emily - has she always been this beautiful, or was it just the picture that she looked so good on?

He felt a strange feeling of pride when he saw his helmet on her head. He knew that Emily had only been joking around with it, but it did suit her, and even if Emily didn't know or care about this, but if an asgardian warrior allowed another person to wear his helmet, it traditionally marked this person as his companion, his confidant - his partner.

If they were in Asgard, Loki thought, he'd have another version of his helmet made for her to wear at formal occasions; a bit smaller, the horns a little shorter and more slender and the helmet itself a bit more feminine and graceful.

He suddenly frowned. What in Odin's name was he thinking about? They were not only not in Asgard, Emily was also a mortal who would never want to wear asgardian attire and, most importantly, she was _not his partner_ and never would be, either - there were no such feelings between them, they were _friends_.

"Don't you like it?" Emily suddenly asked insecurely, and Loki looked at her.

Yes, he thought, amazed by the sudden realization, she really was beautiful. It wasn't just on the picture. She was simply _gorgeous_. Her shiny hair framed her lovely face perfectly, her lips looked soft and her eyes - her eyes were wonderful; they were not only beautiful because of their astonishing colour and their exceptional shape and size, but they were full of - of love, of graciousness and depth - it were eyes that made you feel like you could not only lose, but also find yourself inside of them.

"L-Loki?"

"Hm?"

"Is something wrong? You can change the picture if you don't like it -"

Loki realized that he had been staring at her for quite a while, and he blinked a few times.

"No", he said then and cleared his throat when he noticed how hoarse his voice had become, "No, it's perfect."

_You are perfect._

Emily beamed. "So now you can write me whenever you want to. Nick would never suspect you to use midgardian technology, anyways."

Loki smirked. "Midgardian technology?"

When Emily laughed out, he couldn't help but admire the melodious sound of it.

"Shit, I guess I spend too much time with you", she giggled.

Loki found himself disagreeing to this. She was far from spending too much time with him, she was even far from spending _enough_ time with him. It might not even be enough if she'd spent every single second of her day with him - he'd still want to see her more.

He cleared his throat when he realized that he was staring at her again.

"Would you like another coffee?" he asked and was on his way before she could even answer.

When he arrived in the kitchen, he ran his hands through his hair. What in Odin's name was happening here? Why did he suddenly think of Emily in such a weird, completely inappropriate way? She was a _mortal_ , and she was _taken_ , and he _really_ needed to pull himself together now.

When he turned around to make a cappuccino, he suddenly heard Emily stepping into the kitchen. She opened one of the cupboards and sighed.

"Damn it, I thought there were cookies left. I could really need some chocolate."

Loki smirked at her. "I know exactly where to find some."

He closed his eyes and thought of the chocolate cookies that had been lying on Tony's desk when he'd been there this morning, and a second later, he was holding them in his hands.

"Tada."

Emily laughed out in admiration. "My god, that's so handy! I wish you could teach me how to do that! Thank you so much!"

She took the cookies and gave him a quick hug, and Loki immediately closed his eyes and breathed in her wonderful scent as he wrapped his arms around her. When she let go and smiled up at him, Loki looked into her eyes and returned her smile, and for a brief second he had to resist the sudden urge to brush his lips against hers. They looked so nice and soft, and Loki suddenly wondered what Emily might taste like, too.

 _Get ahold of yourself_ , he thought, irritated by his own feelings, and he turned around in a swift movement to pick up the cup of coffee.

Emily was already on her way back to their table, and Loki, following her with the coffee, let his gaze wander over the backside of her body before he realized what he was doing. He felt himself blush - something that only happened on very rare occasions - and again, he chastised himself mentally.

When they were sitting at the table again and Emily continued to explain his newly purchased, odd piece of technology to him, Loki found it rather hard to listen to her explanations. He was highly irritated by his sudden rapture of Emily. Nothing between them had changed, they were friends and nothing more, so why was he suddenly wondering how her lips would feel on his own?

Maybe he was just hurting for some physicality - he had not been close to a woman for an eternity. Yes, he thought, relief washing over him, that was it. He was simply longing for physical contact with a woman. But he would certainly not endanger his friendship with Emily because of this. Maybe he should just find some stranger to satisfy his needs with so he could clear his mind again. Tony had told him that there were, oddly enough, quite a few mortal women out there who pretty much worshipped him - maybe he should take advantage of that.

When he realized that he wasn't listening to a single word of Emily's explanations even though his eyes were glued to her lips, he blinked angrily. He was almost grateful when Tony suddenly burst into the common room.

"What the hell, I was just about to eat one of these cookies when they just disappeared right in front of me - I told you to stop this Copperfield shit!"

Emily smiled apologetically at Tony. "I'm so sorry, Tony, that's my fault, I asked Loki to get me some chocolate."

She held the bag of cookies to Tony who took a handful and rolled his eyes at her.

"So now I can't even be angry at anyone because the sick girl needed something to eat?"

Loki smirked. "So it would seem. I happen to be a knight in shining armour in this case."

"Oh, is that so?" Tony managed to say with his mouth stuffed with chocolate cookies, and Loki shot him a disgusted look when a few crumbles hit him, "Wouldn't the damsel in distress owe her white knight a kiss, then?"

He smirked at Loki's sorely shocked expression. When Emily leant over the table, grinning from ear to ear, to plant a playful, soft kiss on Loki's cheek, Tony had to stifle a broad grin at the sight of a blushing god who slowly touched his cheek with a dreamy smile on his face.

 

 


	20. To A Wonderful Evening

"Now wasn't that fun?"

Tony smirked down at Loki who had just barely made it back into the quinjet and was still lying on the floor, trying to catch his breath. He offered the god a hand and Loki huffed before he took it.

"I would not call it fun, but to each their own."

Clint grinned. "Well, fun or not, we've been successful. Took us long enough."

"Tell me about it. I've been trying to terminate Hydra for 70 years", Steve replied.

"Yeah okay, you win." Clint slapped Steve's back and yawned. "And now, gentlemen, I'd like to see my family."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Doesn't all this family man thing get boring from time to time?"

"I've just spent an entire week with you, commuting between the quinjet and fights to checkmate nazi freaks - I can really use some boredom."

Tony shrugged. "At least you didn't put these bees in the other's bonnets yet." He cocked his head and looked at Loki. "You're not gonna bring some little icecubes into the world in the near future, are you?"

Loki raised his eyebrows. "Define near future."

Tony, Clint and even Steve made an "Ohhh"-sound, and Loki shook his head in annoyance. Thor was in Asgard, Natasha and Bruce were on their very own mission with the latest recruits of Avengers, and he had been stuck with those three fools for a whole week now. He had never craved some alone time as much as he did at this moment.

"What I wanted to say is that my definition of near future is very different from yours."

Tony smirked. "But you do plan little icicles?"

Clint and Steve exchanged an amused look as Loki just turned his back on them.

"Does Emily already know about this? I mean, it's gonna be her womb that gets frozen, after all -"

Loki whirled around. "Hold your tongue now", he snarled, "You know very well that there is nothing between Emily and -"

Tony rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure, I know. I also know that you two have been texting the whole week and I also know that your wallpaper is a lovely selfie of you two lovebirds."

Loki snorted dismissively. He couldn't really argue against that - he and Emily have indeed been writing each other a few times, and of course he had kept their selfie as a wallpaper. Ever since Tony had seen his phone, he was teasing him with what he called "Lokily".

"Well", Tony said in a challenging tone, "If you're just friends, how come I never see you with another woman, then?"

"The only other women I have met as of late were Hydra agents, and I preferred murdering to courting them."

"Fair enough", Tony admitted, "So does that mean that you'd like to go out on a date once we're back in New York? I mean, I'll ask Pepper, maybe she has some annoying friend that she still has a score to settle with -"

Loki shot him an annoyed glance, but Tony smirked. He was clearly entertaining himself.

"I can arrange a double date, I bet we'd be a great team - and a lot of women are into this whole dark villain kind of thing, trust me. Can't hurt, can it? I mean, you're just a man, technically, aren't you? Or - or is there something I don't know? I mean -"

"By the norns, Stark, if it will keep you quiet, arrange whatever it is you're longing for", Loki growled, desperate to have some peace.

He was truly annoyed by all the suggestive remarks about him and Emily and he just hoped that Emily hadn't heard anything about that, yet.

When they finally arrived at the Avengers Tower an hour later, he was delighted to find Emily in the common room, sitting on a couch with Nolan on her lap and a book in her hands.

"Hey, little one."

She looked up at him and beamed. Nolan on the other hand shot him an indignant look.

Loki frowned. "Hey, he looks angry."

Emily laughed out. "I guess he is pissed off that you've left him. He doesn't like to be alone at night."

"I apologize, little furry creature", Loki said, petting the cat's head, and Nolan started to purr immediately. "He's very forgiving, hm?"

"As soon as you stroke him, you're forgiven, yeah. How did your mission go?"

Loki shrugged as he sat down on the couch next to Emily. "It took longer than expected, but we were successful."

Emily looked at him for a few seconds.

"I hate when you're on a mission", she admitted quietly, "I always drive myself crazy with worries."

Torn between pleasant surprise that she was actually worrying about him and shame because he wasn't sure if he deserved anyone to worry about him, Loki lowered his gaze and just kept petting Nolan.

"I'm really happy you have a phone now", Emily continued, "At least you could always tell me you're alright."

Loki smirked at her. "There really is no need to worry, little one. Nothing is going to happen to me. I am a powerful wizard god, remember?"

She chuckled. "That sounds like something I would say."

"You did", Loki confirmed, "The first time we've met."

Emily looked at him in surprise. "You're right. You still remember that?"

"Of course I do. You were sitting over there, your feet on the table, and I scared you to death."

"Just because I didn't know that there was anybody in here!" Emily exclaimed, laughing, "And if I remember correctly, I insulted you severely afterwards because I didn't recognize you."

Loki huffed. "I was not insulted at all! I was merely astonished that one would not recognize my very recognizable appearance."

Emily grinned. Then she carefully pushed Nolan onto Loki's lap and straightened herself.

"Well, it's getting late, I guess I better head home. And you might want to relax a bit, you look really exhausted."

She eyed him, concern obvious on her face, and Loki chuckled.

"I _am_ exhausted. I just saved your race yet again, after all."

"You're such a show-off!" Emily laughed out, "And by the way, I've read your mission reports - you only defeated a few crazy nazi scientists, so don't exaggerate your own merits!"

Loki laughed out loud. "As bold as always, I see."

Emily winked at him when she left the common room, and Loki leant his head back, closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. Somehow he felt better than he'd had the entire last week.

 

 

* * *

 

 

It was a few days later that Tony entered the common room with a wide grin on his face.

"There you are, Ani! Time to suit up! I got you a woman!"

Loki looked up from the book he was reading.

"I beg your pardon?"

Tony smirked. "There's an old friend of Pepper who's in New York for a week, and we thought we could go out together tonight."

"Don't be absurd, Stark."

Tony frowned. "I'm not absurd. You agreed on a date, remember? Come on, you can't be sitting in this tower all day, brooding over world domination or whatever it is that keeps your dark little mind occupied. Get out, date a woman, break your horns -" He burst into laughter. "I swear, that was unintended. I'm an unintentional genius. Sometimes I'm impressed by my own grandiosity -"

Loki shook his head. "Cease your blabbering, Stark."

"So you'll come?"

"No."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Come on, I already promised Pepper to bring a date. She even gave her consent to you!"

Loki raised a brow. "How fortunate I am."

"Come on now." Tony smirked. "Hey, if you join us tonight, I'll stop teasing you and Emily, I promise."

Loki narrowed his eyes at him. "You have been teasing Emily with that, too?"

She had never mentioned any comments Tony might have made, so Loki had assumed that even Stark knew some limits.

"Not yet - I thought that would be inappropriate, you know, with her working for me - but actually, it sounds like it could be fun - and you know, if I don't bring a date for Pepper's friend tonight, I'm quite sure we're gonna have a fight over that, and I guess I could use something to cheer me up, then -"

Loki gritted his teeth. The last thing he wanted Tony to do was making innuendoes about their friendship when Emily was around. Maybe he should just go to that date if it would shut Tony up - and hadn't he been thinking about meeting a woman who could satisfy his carnal needs, anyways? He had not been intimate with another person for years, and yes, Tony had a point - god or not, he was still a man, after all.

"Fine", he snarled and Tony winked.

"I knew I'd get you with that. So tonight, 7 pm, we'll have dinner upstairs."

"Upstairs?"

Tony raised his eyebrows. "You've never been upstairs?"

When Loki shook his head, Tony smirked.

"Well, you'll see. Just wear something nice and come to the highest floor at 7 pm. Don't leave me in the lurch, buddy, you'd regret it. Oh, and Frosty - she's stunning!"

 

 

* * *

 

  
Loki reluctantly left the elevator on the highest floor at 6.45 pm and frowned when he looked around. The corridor looked much more noble than the other ones in the tower and if Loki hadn't known that he was still at the Avengers Headquarters, he'd have assumed to be in an upper-class hotel. On both ends of the corridor were long red curtains that obviously covered the entrances to whatever it was that Tony had built up here. When Loki heard voices from his left side, he pulled the curtains aside and stepped into the room.

It looked like a restaurant - a very exclusive restaurant. It was softly lit, lavishly furnished with mahagoni furniture and decorations in white and golden colours, and in one of the corners a man in an elegant suit was just about to sit down at a huge piano. One of the well-laid tables near the huge glass front was decorated with flowers and a candleholder. Every inch of the room screamed "Romance Alert" and Loki couldn't help but roll his eyes at Stark's usual lack of subtlety.

"Frosty, you're early!"

Loki hadn't noticed Tony and Pepper standing in front of the glass front. Pepper was busy chastising Tony for calling Loki Frosty when he reached them.

"Hello, Loki", she smiled kindly, "Nice to meet you again."

Loki took her hand to plant a soft kiss on it - mostly to annoy Tony - and returned her smile.

"As always, the pleasure is all mine, dearest Virginia."

He looked out of the window and immediately understood Tony's decision to have a restaurant up here - the view was truly breathtaking.

"Well, _Loki_ ", Tony said, looking at Pepper in the hope of getting approval for using his real name and she gave him a thumbs up in return, "I really didn't expect you to show up."

"Oh, I would never want to disappoint my dear Virginia or one of her friends", Loki replied charmingly, and Pepper blushed a little.

"Kerstin should be here any minute", she said, "She's a wonderful woman." When she saw Loki's gaze lingering on the sight before him, she smiled. "Amazing, isn't it? You've never been here before?"

Loki shook his head. "I was not aware that there was a restaurant up here."

Tony smirked. "It's usually closed. I only open it for special occasions. Well, and on Pepper's and my date nights."

He didn't seem to notice Pepper's frown, but Loki did.

"I cannot imagine an occasion more special than an evening spent with this extraordinary woman", he purred, shooting Tony an amused look while Pepper blushed again.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Don't play the gentleman, Rudolph."

"Tony!" Pepper exclaimed and looked at Loki, "I am so sorry."

Loki gave her a disarming smile. "I have long become used to your partner's impoliteness. I can only admire your patience with him though, my dearest."

Tony huffed and Pepper smiled kindly before she looked down at her mobile phone.

"Oh, Kerstin has arrived. I will pick her up downstairs. Be right back. Behave yourself, Tony!"

Tony raised his arms in disbelief and shot Loki an annoyed look. "You're not supposed to let me look like a fool here!"

Loki smirked. "You really don't need me for that, Stark."

With another huff, Tony walked over to a door that seemed to lead into a kitchen. "Get us some champagne, will you? Great."

Loki rolled his eyes again. A candlelight-dinner with champagne - how original.

When Pepper entered the room again, her arm linked to that of a blonde woman in a green dress, Loki approached them slowly and smiled politely.

"Kerstin, this is Loki Friggason, Loki, this is Kerstin Adkins", Pepper said with a smile.

"It is such a pleasure to meet you, Kerstin. You look absolutely stunning", Loki crooned, reaching out for the woman's hand to softly graze her knuckles with his lips.

"Thank you, you too", she said, eyeing Loki up and down with obvious fascination in her eyes.

When Pepper let go of her arm and sat down next to Tony, Loki smiled at Kerstin.

"You should admire the view before we sit down, my dear", he said and led the woman to the glass front.

When they sat down opposite of Tony and Pepper eventually, a waiter appeared next to them with a bottle of champagne and a silver tray with appetizers, and Tony beamed at his guests.

"To a wonderful evening!"

Loki raised his glass just like the others and gave his best not to let out a sigh. He was already tired of his company. This woman looked utterly boring and ordinary - he doubted that he would even recognize her if he were to see her again tomorrow - and he'd already forgotten her name and the occupation that she'd told him about, too. But he had the distant feeling that he might  benefit from this evening somehow if he played along, and so he did. It couldn't take too long - that blonde woman was already quite tipsy. When she put her hand on his forearm while talking about something utterly insignificant, Loki caught Tony winking at him, and it took all of his self-control to not roll his eyes.

 _Maybe,_ he thought, _I should never have gotten closer with the Avengers if an evening like this is the prize I have to pay for gaining their trust._

 

 

* * *

 

 

Emily stood in the elevator, waiting impatiently for it to reach her floor, and quickly scribbled some notes into her notepad.

Nick had called her an hour ago to tell her that he would be working late hours today, and Emily had spontaneously decided to stay at work, too, so she could finally make progress with her new project. She hadn't come very far when she realized that she needed Tony to enter a security clearance code to proceed.

J.A.R.V.I.S. had told her that Tony was on the highest floor, and since she knew that he and Pepper had their date night today, she assumed that they were having a romantic dinner - Tony had a ridiculously luxurious restaurant up there. Neither Tony nor Pepper really minded when they were interrupted during their dates; both knew that some things just couldn't wait, but Emily still hated to disturb them.

When the elevator finally arrived and Emily entered the room, still scribbling something into her notepad, she started talking before she had even looked up.

"Tony, Pepper, I'm sorry to interrupt, but - _oh._ "

When she looked up from her notepad to see Loki and another woman sitting opposite of Tony and Pepper, her face fell.

"I - I'm sorry, I - uh -"

Loki suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable.

"No problem, Emily!" Tony said, "Kerstin - this is Emily Bloomfield, my assistant; Emily, this is Kerstin Adkins, a friend of Pepper."

"Nice to meet you", Kerstin said with a kind smile.

Emily's eyes wandered from her to Loki and back. Kerstin was incredibly beautiful - she was tall, had a perfectly shaped figure, long blonde hair and blue eyes in a perfect, gorgeous face, and she was wearing a spectacular green dress. With a strange pang in her chest Emily noticed that Loki's tie matched her dress perfectly. With another pang she realized that her hand was lying on Loki's arm. It took her a few seconds to realize that everybody was looking at her expectantly.

"Oh yes, I - I'm sorry -" She blushed. "It's nice to meet you, too, I'm Emily Bloomfield, Tony's assistant - oh, Tony just said that, right?" She chuckled nervously and then fell silent.

Pepper and Kerstin exchanged an irritated look and Tony furrowed his brows at his assistant.

"Emily?" he finally said, slightly confused, but Emily was still looking at the unbelievably gorgeous woman sitting next to Loki.

She suddenly became painfully aware of her own outfit - a worn jeans, a slack pink pullover and a pair of chucks that was almost torn to shreds. She was pretty sure that she hadn't even taken the time to use some make up this morning, too.

"Uh, kiddo?" Tony tried again, and Emily blinked and looked away from Kerstin to meet Tony's eyes.

"Yes?"

Tony raised his eyebrows. "Uh, well - is there anything I can do for you?"

"Oh!" Emily's face turned crimson. "Oh, yes, sure." She looked down at her notepad and frowned. She didn't have the slightest idea what it was that she had wanted from Tony. "Or actually, no." She let out a nervous laugh. "I'm so sorry, I forgot the - the document downstairs. Sorry. But I guess it can wait until tomorrow, anyways - I think I'll just clock out now - I didn't know that you were, um - J.A.R.V.I.S. just told me that you were here with Ms. Potts, I mean Pepper, and - I didn't -"

Loki watched Emily rambling on and on and he furrowed his brows. She was acting strange and he wished he could just ask her if everything was alright, but he didn't want to get her in an awkward situation. He actually didn't feel alright himself, either. He took a big gulp of wine to get rid of the strange lump in his throat.

Emily finally decided to stop talking. She avoided Loki's gaze and gave her best to smile brightly at the four people sitting in front of her.

"I'm really sorry to interrupt you, have a nice - um, evening."

She turned around, almost stumbled over her own feet and hurried out of the room.

Tony and Pepper exchanged a knowing look while Loki's gaze was lingering on the door that Emily had just bolted through.

Kerstin looked rather confused. "She seems nice", she said doubtingly, but Loki wasn't listening to her.

He had the nagging feeling that he should follow Emily and talk to her. She had seemed to be flustered and she had obviously avoided to look at him, and he couldn't help but feel guilty, even though he wasn't sure what exactly it was that he'd done wrong.

When he realized after a few minutes that whatever-her-name-was had just asked him the same question for the third time, he smiled absent-mindedly and nodded without any idea of what it was he just agreed on. He gave his best to return to the conversation, but it was tougher than he'd expected.

He didn't notice the triumphant smile that was plastered on Tony's face or the poorly hidden smirk that was playing in the corners of Pepper's mouth.

 

 

* * *

 

 

At the same time, Emily was still standing in the elevator that had already reached her floor a few minutes ago and tried to pull herself together. Her stomach felt as if somebody had punched her, her throat was tight, and somehow, she felt hot and cold at the very same moment. She cringed when she thought about the nonsense that she had been spluttering up there - what the hell was wrong with her?

 _They must think I'm a complete idiot_ , she thought, angry with herself, _and seriously, I am!_

Why had this woman thrown her off the track so badly? Yes, she was gorgeous, so what? It wasn't as if she was competing with her or something. There were literally _millions_ of women who were more beautiful than she was, and being Tony's assistant, she must have already met half of them, so why did this particular one irritate her so badly?

She supposed that she was just surprised to see Loki on a date with a stranger. Considering their close friendship, Emily would have wished for Loki to tell her about this woman himself, that was all. She hadn't even known that he was seeing someone. If they were best friends as she'd been thinking, why had he not told her? And then he was dating such a _supermodel._  Emily had never thought about what kind of woman Loki was into, but she assumed that she should have known that he had an exquisite taste - he was a prince, a _god_. If he was dating a human woman, of course it would be a beauty queen. Why the hell did this give her such a strange feeling?  
  
When she suddenly realized that she was still standing in the elevator, she rolled her eyes at herself and walked into her office. Just as she sat down at her desk she noticed that she hadn't asked Tony for the code she needed.

 _Well, great_.

There was no way she'd go up there again. She wondered how long they'd stay there. And she wondered if the woman would go back home tonight or - well, that was absolutely not her business.

Upset with herself, she decided to go home now. Somehow, the thought of being in the same building as Loki and this woman irked her, and it irked her even more that she just didn't understand why she suddenly felt so utterly alone in this world.

 

 

* * *

 

  
Loki already had two cups of cappuccino ready when Emily entered the common room for their coffee break. He hadn't slept well and had already drunken two cups, but it didn't seem to help today.

The evening had been exasperatingly long, and when he had finally excused himself, the blonde mortal had actually suggested to extend the evening in his apartment. Even though he'd been considering to use some random woman to satisfy his needs before, he had somehow completely lost interest in this throughout the dinner. It hadn't been a problem for him to talk his way out of this situation, he wasn't called Silvertongue for nothing, but he had seen Tony's smirks and he knew very well what he'd wanted to imply with them.

"Hey Loki - ahh, thank you", Emily smiled and reached out for her cappuccino.

"You're welcome."

He eyed her cautiously. She looked just like she always did. Maybe he'd been wrong yesterday and everything was alright, after all.

"You were working late yesterday", he stated eventually.

Emily blushed. "Yeah", she mumbled, "But it didn't really help me with the project. Never mind. Tony said you had a nice evening?"

Loki raised his brows. "If he says so."

She bit her lip, her expression uneasy. "I was surprised - I mean, I just - I didn't know you were seeing someone."

Loki looked at her, surprised.

"I am not", he clarified, "It was just one evening."

Somehow, Emily blushed even more at this when she muttered, "Oh. Okay."

"She's a friend of Pepper", Loki explained, "And Stark had the ludicrous idea of a double-date, as he called it."

"Well, she seemed nice", Emily mumbled sheepishly.

Loki shrugged.

There was an embarrassed silence.

Loki was almost relieved when Tony walked into the common room after a few minutes. _Almost._

"Snowflake, Pepper just called me - Kerstin was delighted to meet you! You really turned her head!"

Loki rolled his eyes. "Is that so?"

Tony smirked when he realized that Emily was suddenly very interested in a strand of her hair.

"Yup. Wanna go out with her again? She's here until the weekend."

"No", Loki said without thinking twice, "The time I have spent in her presence yesterday was more than sufficient."

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me! She's gorgeous! What do you say, Emily?"

Emily flinched and looked up at Tony. "What? Um, yes - yes, I guess she is -"

Loki shrugged and Tony rolled his eyes.

"Really, you're beyond help. She's one of the most beautiful women I've ever been with and you -"

With a disgusted look, Loki raised his eyebrows. "You have already been with her? Do you not have a single spark of decency?"

Emily snorted. "Didn't I tell you that you two have a lot in common?"

Tony and Loki both said "He wished" and glared at each other.

"Are you going to give her a survey for a length measuring contest? Because I really don't want to be the one who has to evaluate it", Emily mumbled, and both men looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"There's nothing to evaluate; our little Casanova here ducked out."

Loki huffed. "Ducked out? Stark, you -"

Emily stared at Loki, utterly surprised. "You didn't sleep with her?" she exclaimed and blushed when she realized what she had just said.

"Of course not", Loki said indignantly, "I told you that I have only seen her yesterday."

"But I thought that - um, I thought -" Emily stammered, her face crimson.

Tony leaned back in his chair, totally enjoying the scene before him.

"Nah, I guess Romeo here isn't the type for one-night-stands", he said eventually.

Loki rolled his eyes. "Why are you so obsessed with my sexual life, Stark?"

Tony shrugged. "Idle curiosity. I don't know many aliens that I could question about their biological givens. I mean, do you even actually sleep with women or do you go into some alien mode and just lay eggs to procreate?"

"Tony!" Emily burst out, and while Tony smirked, Loki just shook his head in amusement.

"Well, anyways, I've gotta run now. Don't forget our meeting this afternoon, Casanova."

When Tony left, Emily looked at Loki with a frown.

"I thought you'd taken that woman home last night", she admitted sheepishly, and Loki raised his eyebrows.

"Certainly not. I do not share my bed with random mortals."

"You shared your bed with me", Emily argued.

Loki smirked. "That is because you, darling, are most certainly not a random mortal."

Emily's cheeks turned red again. "And you're sure you don't want to see Kerstin again?"

Loki frowned. "Who?"

Emily laughed out. "Come on, the beauty queen you've met yesterday!"

"I am not at all interested in this woman. She was completely ordinary. I do have some standards, little one", he grinned, "And if a woman wants to win my heart, she certainly has to be something special."

Emily smirked. "Or a horse."

Loki laughed out and Emily started to giggle, too. Her heart had been inexplicably heavy since last evening, but right now, she felt as if somebody had taken an enormous weight off it.

"You are quite bold. I do hope that you keep your rebelliousness until our lesson tomorrow. And do not look at me like that, we will not delay it again."

Emily pouted. "I thought I deserved a break, last time you said that I made progress!"

Loki snorted. "The pleasantly surprising fact that you are not giggling anymore when I show you a fighting pose is not exactly a serious progress."

"But you look cute when you strike your fighting poses."

Loki let out a sigh. "You are lucky I like you. If you were any other mortal, I would let you suffer for this insolence."

He eyed Emily, who was smirking at him, and shook his head. Really, he should be offended by the thought of having such an unintimidating effect on a mortal, but to his own surprise, there was rather a feeling of elation welling up inside of him at the thought that this particular mortal found him cute instead of daunting when he was fighting.

 


	21. Falling And Falling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the next chapter, Loki's about to find out something he is absolutely not going to be pleased with. At all.  
> I'm sorry for the cliffhanger (that's a lie, I'm not, I did that on purpose. :D)

"What would you do now?"

Loki was standing behind Emily and had his arms wrapped around her upper body, immobilising her, and she slowly made the movements that he'd shown her a week ago.

He nodded, "Technically, yes, but you have to do it faster and with a lot more force. Come on, do it."

"Loki, I am not going to kick you! I don't want -"

Loki rolled his eyes. "You won't hurt me. Now do it."

Reluctantly, Emily repeated the movements, this time actually striking and kicking Loki the way he'd told her to, and he let go of her with a smile.

"Perfect. If I were a mortal, you would have freed yourself now."

Emily beamed at him.

"What would you do after you've freed yourself?"

"I'd kick you in the nuts and run."

Loki laughed out. "Don't tell me, show me."

A second Loki appeared next to him and Emily's mouth dropped.

"It is just an illusion, it is not corporeal. Aim for his - his _nuts_. Show me how you would kick him."

Emily was still staring at the illusion. "Holy shit! That's - that's -" She looked from Loki to his copy with narrowed eyes. "I can't even see a difference!"

Loki smirked. "Ask Thor about that. He still falls for my illusions."

The girl poked the illusion and laughed out when her finger went right through it.

"That's amazing, Loki! Can't you teach me how to do _that_ instead?"

"Unfortunately not", the illusion said, and Emily's eyes widened.

"He can talk?"

Loki chuckled. "Indeed. Well, now kick him. I want to see how you do it."

Still eyeing the double of her best friend cautiously, Emily raised her foot and kicked against the illusion that flickered a bit when she touched it.

"That would not have done much", Loki said with a frown and let the illusion disappear, much to Emily's disappointment, "Take this dummy instead. Do it like this - no, look, like this - exactly. And now kick it. Again. Much better, again. Again!"

After what felt like hundreds of kicks, Loki finally smiled. "Very well. You are getting better."

Emily looked at him with a proud smile. "So if anybody attacked me now, I'm gonna kick their ass, right?"

Loki chuckled. "If he stayed as motionless as the dummy, yes." He circled her. "Now if anybody grabbed you like this -"

He grabbed her upper arm and Emily gave a wince of pain. Loki let go and looked at her apologetically.

"Did I hurt you?"

Emily shook her head. "No, you didn't, it's fine."

Loki frowned. "That is not true", he said matter-of-factly, watching Emily pale. "If I am too rough with you, you have to tell me. I am a lot stronger than you and I don't want to hurt you."

"No, it wasn't your fault", Emily mumbled, "I just have a bruise there. My own fault."

"You get injured quite frequently", Loki stated, "Considering that you are a fragile being, you should be way more cautious."

Emily didn't say anything and Loki eyed her thoughtfully. "Really, even for a mortal, you seem to get hurt very often -"

The girl didn't look at him and just shrugged. "I know. I'm clumsy."

Loki could tell that she felt uncomfortable and decided to cheer her up. He shot her an amused glance.

"Maybe we should have a few lessons about elegance and grace, then", he teased her and Emily laughed out and slapped his chest.

"Careful, or I'll kick your ass!"

"I would enjoy to see you trying", he smirked and then became serious again. "Show me the bruise, I'll heal it."

Emily shook her head. "That's not necessary, it's almost gone."

"I can make it go completely."

Emily gave him a weak smile. "Really, it's not necessary." Her voice sounded distant. "Hey, are we done for now? I could really need a break."

Loki watched her with a frown. Why was it that this woman withdrew herself so frequently from him? There had been so many times where he had thought that he had finally come a little nearer to her, yet at some point she would always back away, be it his touch or a specific topic that she wanted to avoid. Sometimes Loki felt as if she was building walls around herself, and for every barrier that he was able to take down, she started to erect two new ones.

"Sure", he mumbled, and Emily looked at him with a strange, somewhat regretful expression.

"Are you coming with me?" she asked insecurely, and Loki gave her a smile.

"Yes. I could need a break, too."

 

 

* * *

 

 

Loki and Emily were sitting in the common room a few days later and Loki was just drawing a picture of Yggdrasil and explained the connection between the nine realms to her when Tony entered the common room.

"There she is", he said cheerfully to the person following him.

When Loki looked up from the paper to see Nick walking into the room, he leant back in his chair casually, crossing his arms over his chest and eyeing Nick with raised brows. Emily on the other hand put on a smile and quickly rose from her chair to approach her boyfriend.

"When you're looking for her while she's at work and she's neither with me nor in her office, she is usually here with her work husband", Tony said with a wink, and while Loki rolled his eyes, Emily let out a forced laugh that hurt Loki's ears.

Nick smiled. "Good to know that somebody looks after her when she's at work", he said, and if Loki hadn't been who he was, he might have believed him. Emily eyed him carefully, too, and Loki narrowed his eyes at the anxious expression on her face.

"She's in good hands", Tony smirked, "And most of all, _we're_ in good hands when she's around. Things have never been running so smoothly here."

"I'm happy to hear that."

Nick put an arm around Emily's shoulder and planted a kiss on her temple, and while Tony gave the young couple a smile, Loki couldn't help but think that Emily looked as if she was being smothered by this man.

"I wanted to pick you up for lunch", Nick said eventually, and Emily smiled at him.

"Sure, let me just get my bag from my office."

"You know what, Emily", Tony tossed in, "Why don't you just call it a day? Enjoy the sunny weather. You're working so much lately."

Emily furrowed her brows. "Actually, I'm still working on the new project, and -"

"Ah, come on, it's not that urgent. And it doesn't look good if the assistant is working harder than her boss." He winked at her.

"Listen to your boss, sweetheart", Nick grinned, "He's a smart man."

"See, the boy knows what he's talking about", Tony smirked.

"Well", Emily said, still sounding unsure, "Then I'll get my bag now -"

She glanced at Loki, wriggled out of Nick's embrace and left the room.

"So", Nick said, approaching Loki, "I hope I didn't disturb you?"

Loki, his arms crossed and his legs spread wide, raised his shoulders casually. "You did not."

Tony and Nick sat down at Loki's table. Tony glanced at the paper lying in front of Loki.

"Is that Yggdrasil?" he asked curiously, and while Loki nodded, Nick furrowed his brows.

"Ick-what?"

"Yggdrasil is the world tree that connects the nine worlds", Loki said languidly.

Nick huffed.

"So, boy", Tony said, obviously realizing the tensed mood, "What do you plan to do with Emily today?"

"I'd planned to have lunch with her, but now that we have the whole day - I guess I'll have to come up with something", he grinned. Then he shot Loki a glance. "Well, what does that mean, work husband? I thought you barely work together?"

"They don't", Tony replied, "But that doesn't keep them from spending every free minute together."

Loki gritted his teeth. If Tony didn't stop talking, it would certainly not turn out to be a relaxed day for Emily.

"That is slightly exaggerated, Stark", he said, and when Tony opened his mouth to argue against him, Loki did one of the things he had assured Odin not to do while he was on Earth - he altered Tony's mind to shut him up. "Emily used to help me to orient myself on this new planet, but she has done a terrific job and now I do not need much of her assistance anymore", he lied smoothly, and Nick seemed satisfied with his answer.

When Emily returned with her bag and saw the three men sitting at the table together, her eyes widened for a second before she started to giggle.

"Wow, that sounds like a bad joke - a girl walks into a room and sees Iron Man, a god and her boyfriend sitting at the table -"

Tony and Loki both smirked and Nick raised from his chair and walked over to Emily to give her a kiss. Loki looked away from them and caught Tony's amused gaze.

"Well sweetheart, ready to go?" Nick said eventually, and Emily, a little flushed, nodded.

"Sure. Um, Tony - Loki - I'll see you tomorrow?"

When they were gone, Tony crossed his arms and looked at Loki, who was determined to ignore the annoying mortal in front of him. After a few minutes, he gave up.

"Why are you staring at me?"

"You, my friend, are smitten by Curly Sue, and don't you deny it!"

Loki frowned. "By whom?"

"Emily! Who else? You two should make up your mind about each other. It's getting ridiculous, really."

"We are -"

Tony rolled his eyes. "Please, spare me the "We're just friends"-speech! You're smitten by her, she's smitten by you, it's about time that the two of you get things straight or you're gonna be heading for a huge pile of shit with that backstreet boy double of hers."

"You think she is smitten by me?"

"Oh please! I thought you were smart!"

Loki shook his head. "That is ridiculous. And - what is a backstreet boy double?"

Tony sighed. "I'm talking about Nick. There's no room for three people in that boat; you should decide who's the one to go for a swim."

Loki looked into his cup of coffee, lost in his thoughts. He couldn't deny that he had felt a hint of - well, _distaste_ \- when he had just seen Nick and Emily together, but he was quite sure that the reason for this feeling was the fact that he did not think this man worthy of a woman like her. He'd prefer to see her with somebody else, somebody who treated her the way she deserved to be treated, that was all. And Emily smitten with him? That was more than absurd. As much as she seemed to enjoy spending time with him, she clearly saw him as a friend and nothing more. And he was already unsure if he even deserved her friendship, anyways. A member of the very race he had tried to conquer mere years ago smitten by her convicted would-be-king?

When he felt Tony's gaze still lingering on him, he looked up, his face betraying the bitter thoughts that were running through his mind.

"We are friends", he said brusquely, "Nobody needs to swim anywhere."

 

 

* * *

 

 

When a red-faced Emily ran into Loki in front of Tony's office the next morning, he smirked at her.

"Looks like you have indeed enjoyed the sunny weather."

Emily huffed. "I guess I should have used more sun milk. I sunburn very easily."

Loki smiled and touched her skin carefully. She closed her eyes and sighed when she felt the burning feeling in her face disappear.

"Thank you so much."

"You're welcome. So you had a nice day?"

Emily beamed. "A great day! We drove to the beach. I love the beach, but somehow I only go there once in a blue moon."

"I have never been there", Loki admitted, and Emily's eyes widened.

"Really? I'll show you, then! But _you_ should definitely bring sun milk", she chuckled, looking at Loki's pale skin.

Loki smiled. "I do not sunburn."

"Oh, of course not. Anything you're _not_ perfect in?" She teased him with a smirk.

Loki pretended to think about that hard until he finally replied, "I am not perfect in conquering other realms."

Emily snorted with laughter. "Well, skill comes with practice."

He nodded. "I shall practice more, then."

"Don't you dare!"

When Tony opened his door to see Emily and Loki in front of it, he narrowed his eyes.

"What are you two up to?"

Emily shrugged. "The usual. World domination and what have you."

"I knew you'd deprave her", Tony groaned, and Loki smiled proudly.

"Anyways", Tony continued, "I was just about to let you know that I have to cancel today's meeting. I have to leave for today. I already told the others."

"Anything you need my assistance in?" Emily asked him, and Tony shook his head.

"Nah. We'll have the meeting Monday morning instead. I gotta go now - don't you two burn down the tower while Daddy is away."

He winked at them and stepped into the elevator. Loki's gaze followed him and settled on Emily when Tony was gone.

"Is he aware that _I_ am the older one?" he asked Emily, amused, and she grinned.

"I doubt it."

"Well", Loki said, "How about another lesson, then, if you don't have anything to do?"

"I have plenty of things to do!" Emily protested with a grin, but then said, "But I'm kinda unmotivated to work today, anyways. So why not."

With a triumphant smirk, Loki took Emily's hand, and the very next second they were standing in the training room.

"I love that", Emily beamed, and Loki smiled.

He knew that very well - it was why he did it so frequently with Emily around.

He repeated yesterday's lesson with her and was quite satisfied with her progress. She was not and would never be a match for him, of course, but if she were attacked by someone of her own race, she would certainly be able to at least put up a fight by now.

"Very well", he said and smiled at how proud she looked at his praise. "Now show me what you would do if you were threatened by somebody in front of you and you were the one to attack first."

Emily approached him and raised her fists, shooting him a stern look, and Loki had to stifle a laugh at the sight. He couldn't remember to have ever seen anything less intimidating in his life. Or anything more adorable.

"Very good", he praised her when she hit him with a considerable amount of force. When he dodged her next blow, Emily lost balance and he rushed towards her again to catch her. "Hey, careful."

Emily put her arms around his chest instinctively to steady herself and looked up at Loki with a smirk. "You're not supposed to step away when I attack you, how am I supposed to hit you then?"

"I do not wish to disappoint you, little one, but I fear that most enemies will try to escape your attack", he grinned and looked down at her.

Emily opened her mouth to retort, but not a single sound escaped her throat when she caught Loki's gaze and their eyes locked.

Loki felt his breath hitch when he realized how close they suddenly were. His head was completely blank. All he could feel was Emily's warmth and her fastened heartbeat, and all he could see were her big brown eyes looking up at him, her slightly reddened skin - and her soft, pinkish lips. His face drew closer to hers as if it was moving on its own and Emily slowly lifted her head, too. She had never realized how incredibly green Loki's eyes were, and how enticing his scent was. He still held her in his arms, too, and she suddenly felt an overwhelming desire to lie down with him, nuzzle into his firm, warm chest and kiss him. She wondered if he'd taste as good as he smelled.

Their faces neared inch by inch and they both closed their eyes.

And then, a split second before their lips would have touched, Emily suddenly let go of Loki and drew back, her eyes widened in surprise. Loki took a step back, too, running his hands through his hair and avoiding her gaze. He didn't know what had come over him.

Emily's gaze was glued to the ground. "I'm - I'm sorry", she said, her voice strained.

"No, I am sorry", Loki murmured, "That was - I did not mean to -"

"I know", Emily mumbled.

Loki glanced at her, but she didn't look at him. "Shall we - shall we come to an end for today?"

Emily nodded. Her face was red and she looked utterly confused.

Loki took a deep breath. "Emily, I apologize, I did not want to get you - us - into an awkward situation."

"I - can we just forget that, please?" Emily said pleadingly, "Nothing happened, so let's just -"

"I agree", Loki said, trying to smile as she finally looked up at him.

She returned the smile insecurely. "Are we - are we - still cool?"

He nodded with a smile that was genuine this time. "We're always cool, Emily."

 

 

* * *

 

 

Loki paced up and down through his apartment. He was overwhelmed by a turmoil of emotions; a chaotic, pointless mixture of confusion, frustration, regret, fear and anger, and every now and then, he conjured up a dagger to throw it into one of the walls to at least vent a bit of his overbearing feelings.

He and Emily had ended their lesson the day before, and she had spent a few hours working inside of her office until they'd met for a coffee break in the afternoon, and while they had both acted as if nothing had happened, she had clearly been tense and acted embarrassingly careful in his presence - just like he had, too. They had not talked about the incident in the training room, but even unspoken of, the memory had lingered between them like the smell of a rotten corpse that had not been buried properly.

When she had decided to go home in the evening, she had looked at him with a strange expression written on her face before she had walked away without hugging him as she usually did when she left for the weekend. She had waved at him and said goodbye, but to see that she was obviously afraid to touch him now had given Loki a pang of guilt.

Due to the weekend it would now be two more days until he'd see her again, and the fear of how she was feeling about him and their friendship now drove him mad. He was not one to regret easily, but he regretted their almost-kiss bitterly. He had no idea what he'd been thinking at that moment. She had just been so close - he hadn't been able to think _at all_.

He threw his dagger into the wall again.

Considering the fact that he had almost kissed her, he had been thinking about his relationship with Emily the entire night, but he still wasn't sure of what exactly it was that he was feeling for her.

Tony had said that he was smitten by her. That couldn't be - could it? He had also said that she was smitten by him, after all, which was obviously not true, either. Her reaction when they had almost kissed had been proof of her disinterest enough. And her awkward behaviour that had followed this incident had only intensified his initial fear that it would hurt their friendship if he'd ever try to get closer to her. That had been the reason he had never allowed himself to deepen the thought of more than a friendship between them, and now it had finally turned out to be right. The thought of it was absurd, anyways - she was a _mortal_ , he couldn't possibly be just as stupid as Thor and fall for a mortal woman. It was disgraceful enough how close he had become with a human, even without romantic feelings involved.

He was still convinced that his carnal desires were the reason for his misguided feelings, anyways, but, oddly enough, he had also not been interested in fulfilling them with a random stranger, either. Maybe it was about time for that.

But right now he had more urgent matters to take care of. He had to talk to Emily about what had happened; he had to ensure that their friendship wouldn't take damage because of this short moment of weakness. And by the norns, he wouldn't wait for two more days until he could finally talk with her. He was a _god,_ he would not wait for a mortal.

He flicked his finger and held his mobile phone in his hands, and a second later he had already dialed her number. He listened to the annoying hooting sound for almost a minute and was already about to give up when finally, a voice answered the call. But it was not Emily's voice.

"Hello?"

Loki rolled his eyes. That was Nick. "Hello, Nick. This is Loki Friggason speaking. I would like to talk to Emily."

There was a short silence, then Nick's voice again. "Why the hell do you want to talk to her?"

If Loki hadn't been as fraught as he was, he might have been more careful with his answer, considering that he knew very well what uncomfortable arguments between Nick and Emily would presumably follow it, but at this very moment, he didn't care about the pathetic jealousy of some random mortal - he was much too concerned with his own emotions.

"That is between her and me", he replied sharply, "I simply wish to speak with her."

"Well, she's not here right now. But I'll let her know", Nick said, and a second later, Loki listened to the hooting noise again.

He clenched his fists and let a few glasses shatter unintentionally. _So much for speaking with Emily_. He assumed that she would call him back, but he had no idea how long that might take, and he wasn't sure how long he'd be able to stand this annoying feeling of uncertainty.

With a growl he conjured up a bottle of asgardian wine. He didn't even bother to use a glass this time but drank straight out of the bottle instead. When he sat down on his bed, Nolan jumped on his lap, and Loki's face softened when the cat rubbed his head against Loki's knees. He petted the cat's head and it started to purr, the vibrating feeling soothing Loki a bit.

 _Pull yourself together_ , he thought,  _as soon as she'll call you back, you can talk_.

 

 

* * *

 

  
But Emily didn't call back. Not on Saturday and not on Sunday, either.

Loki wasn't sure whether it was his disappointment or his anger that was holding the upper hand inside of him. The feeling Emily's silence evoked in him resembled the one he'd had after he had let himself fall down from the Bifrost - he felt as if he was falling and falling with no end in sight, surrounded by nothing but darkness and emptiness, waiting for the moment he would reach the ground and shatter into pieces. He was starting to feel horrified at the thought of what it was that would be awaiting him once he would actually hit the ground - the experience that had followed his fall from the Bifrost had not exactly been a pleasant one. At least this time there would be no mad titan awaiting him.

He refused to try to call her again, though, his pride didn't allow it, and he also denied himself the overwhelming urge to text her. He simply waited - sitting in his room, staring down at this pathetic little thing the mortals called phone, drinking wine, and _waiting_.

On Monday morning, Loki was exhausted. He had barely slept, he had not eaten very much, and he had drunk more than he should have.

Emily had not called him or texted him, either because she didn't want to talk to him anymore, or - well, what was the other possibility, really?

He walked into the conference room almost an hour earlier than necessary. Emily would be in the meeting too, he would finally see her again and he would finally be able to explain her that - well, what exactly? That he had not meant what he'd almost done? That it was something that would never happen again? Would anything he could possibly say really make a difference?

And some point he had even started to consider altering her memories to simply delete the one about their last training sesson, and if Emily really wasn't going to talk to him anymore, that was a possibility he still thought reasonable.

Loki had thought about so many different scenarios that could happen this morning - he had expected Emily to be distant and cold, maybe angry or embarrassed or even overly polite towards him - but he had not expected Tony Stark to walk into the conference room and tell him that Emily had called in sick.

"Wow, Ani, you look like you're sick, too", Tony added, but Loki didn't even react. "What's wrong with you?"

Loki just made a dismissive gesture with his hand, and Tony narrowed his eyes. "Seriously, you look like crap, what's happened?"

"Nothing", Loki said brusquely and added, "What is wrong with Emily?"

Tony raised his shoulders. "She told me she's sick and that she'll let me know as soon as she'll be able to come back to work. Oh, and she told me to say hello to you."

Loki stared at Tony. "She did what?"

"Well, she told me that her mobile phone's broken, so she couldn't text you, and asked me if I could say hello to you."

Loki stared at him, utterly confused by his words, and Tony rolled his eyes.

"If you want to send greetings back to Hermione now, you'll need another owl, though. I'm too old for this shit."


	22. Never Again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a little nervous about this chapter because it's obviously a very important one. I hope it's as compelling and poignant as I want it to be.
> 
> * dryttsekk - old norse word that basically says 'son of a bitch'

Loki had thought to be flustered before, but now he was utterly confused. That Emily had called in sick seemed to be a sign that she really wanted to avoid him at all costs, but if that was the case, why would she have asked Tony to say hello to him? Tony had told him that she had used Nick's phone to call him, which explained why she wouldn't use it to call Loki, and he had also told him that she had sounded perfectly normal.

So her mobile phone was broken and now she was sick? Could the reason for her long silence truly be that simple? Could it really be that this entire tormenting weekend had been completely unnecessary? She was not mad, not hurt, not disgusted because of what had happened? That sounded much too easy to be true, and Loki couldn't ignore the nagging feeling that something was wrong. He even found himself regretting that the Russian wasn't around - she had visited Emily before when she'd been sick, so she could have visited her again to check on her, but she was still somewhere in Eastern Europe with the Beast.

When Emily didn't come to work the next two days, either, Loki finally decided to visit her himself. There was either something wrong or she really was sick, and in both cases his visit might help.

He teleported himself in front of her door and used his seidr to find out if Nick was home - he would definitely not approve of Loki's sick bed visit. When he found the apartment to be empty except for Emily, he knocked. It took a moment until he could hear somebody behind the door.

"Emily?" he said quietly, but she didn't answer. "It is me, Loki. Would you open the door?"

Silence.

"Emily", Loki said impatiently, "I know that you're standing behind the door. I can hear, feel and smell you. Would you please open the door?"

"I'm sick", Emily said, her voice muffled through the door, and Loki rolled his eyes.

"I figured that much. That is why I am here to heal you. Will you let me in?"

Silence again.

"Emily, if this is about what has happened -"

"No! No, really, everything's fine. Didn't Tony say hello to you?"

Loki sighed. He didn't enjoy talking to a door. "He did, but I would rather talk with you myself. Please let me in."

"That's not a good idea, I - I don't want to infect you."

Loki laughed. "Do you truly think a mortal could infect me? Come on, open up."

Again, silence, and then Emily's strained voice, "I look terrible, Loki. Maybe you should rather go."

"I do not care how you look like, darling. Let me heal you and you'll feel better in a second."

When she didn't answer, Loki frowned. "What is wrong?"

"Please just go", Emily said, her voice shaken, and Loki narrowed his eyes.

"I am starting to worry, Emily."

"You don't have to, really!"

Loki took a deep breath. "Why would you not let me in, then?"

Again, silence.

"Emily", Loki said sternly, "I am going to teleport into your apartment now. Make sure you're wearing clothes. Or don't, that is up to you. Three, Two -"

Finally, the door opened a tiny crack.

"I'm fine, Loki, don't worry. I just don't want you to see me like this, okay?"

"That is ridiculous, Emily. Whatever 'this' is, I can heal it in a second."

"But I - I - I can't -"

She sounded as if she was close to crying now, and Loki couldn't help himself. He reached for the door and shoved it open. Emily backed away quickly, but not quickly enough for Loki, and he froze when he saw her.

The left side of her face was swollen and glowed in different shades of violet and green and the skin around her eye was so swollen that he could barely see it.

"Emily", Loki whispered, "What happened?"

Emily looked at the ground, but Loki approached her carefully and lifted her chin to look at her face. It looked dreadful and Loki's stomach twisted at the sight. Emily avoided his gaze and he noticed that there were tears welling up in her eyes.

"Emily, what happened? Have you been robbed? Did you have an accident? Why didn't you tell me?"

She was struggling for words. "Somebody beat me", she said eventually, still avoiding Loki's gaze.

"But why didn't you tell me so I could heal you? And who - careful, darling, you're trembling. Sit down now, I will heal you."

"No!" Emily exclaimed, and Loki stared at her.

"No?"

"You can't heal me; Nick will know that you were here -"

Loki snorted. "So? I am sure he will be able to forget his pathetic jealousy for once if it means that you do not have to suffer. Or do you truly think Nick would rather see you suffer the pain of such an injury?"

He had lifted Emily's chin again to look into her eyes while he'd been speaking, and just for a split second, an anxious, painful expression crossed her face. But this short moment that Emily let her mask slip was all that it took for Loki to finally understand.

"No", he said tonelessly, and Emily's eyes widened in fear when she could spot the sudden realization on his face.

"Emily?" he said calmly, almost threateningly, "Did Nick do that to you?"

Emily let out an involuntary whimper and her lips began to tremble. "It was my own fault", she whispered, "He really didn't want to -"

 _"Nick did that?"_ Loki repeated, disbelief in his voice.

It was true that he'd never liked this mortal and he'd always thought that he wasn't good enough for Emily and that he was taking advantage of her - but he had not expected anything like _this_.

Emily nodded slowly, fearfully. "But he really didn't mean it", she said feebly, "It was my own fault - I - I shouldn't have -"

But Loki wasn't listening to her anymore. Blind rage was running through his veins.

"He shall die", he stated matter-of-factly, and Emily's eyes widened in terror.

"No, Loki, I - you get it wrong -"

Loki looked at Emily, struck by a sudden thought. "How many times has he done that before?"

Emily avoided his gaze.

"When you fell down the stairs? All the other times you've been sick? How many times did this pathetic worm hurt you?"

When she didn't answer, Loki raised his voice. "Tell me!"

Emily flinched and Loki breathed in deeply to calm himself down.

"I apologize, I did not mean to yell at you", he said, his voice strained, "Tell me how many times this has happened before, Emily."

"I don't know", she whispered, "Just - from time to time -"

Loki was breathing heavily. He felt the overwhelming need to destroy some of the ugly furniture surrounding him, but Emily was standing in front of him, a trembling, frightened piece of misery, and the last thing she needed now was a raging god in her apartment. He wanted to leave her and look for Nick instead, and when he'd found him, he would break every single bone in his body until he was a whimpering mess that was begging Loki to have mercy and kill him - but _Emily was standing in front of him_ , and the only thing she needed now was somebody to take care of her.

 _Focus,_ Loki told himself and took a deep breath, _you have to pull yourself together now_.

"Emily", he said firmly, "I will heal you now, and then I will bring you into my chambers."

Emily shook her head frantically, still not looking at Loki. "I can't just leave - Nick will be worried -"

"Nick", Loki said quietly, "will not worry about you. He will be too busy worrying about himself."

"No", Emily said, her voice trembling, and tears were slowly running down her swollen face. "Loki, I can't - please - it's not -"

Loki took another deep breath and reached out to lift Emily's chin. He felt his heart break when she instinctively flinched.

"Don't be scared of me, little one", he said softly, "I will never hurt you."

When he touched her chin carefully to raise it and make her face him, Emily closed her eyes.

"My sweet, why are you not looking at me?"

Fresh tears streamed down Emily's face and her voice was so weak that Loki wouldn't have been able to understand it if he'd been mortal.

"I'm - just - so ashamed."

Loki looked at her, startled. "Why are you ashamed?"

"I didn't want you to ever see me like this", Emily sobbed out, and Loki pulled her into a careful, soft embrace.

"You are just as beautiful as you always are, my little one, and you have no reason to be ashamed at all."

Emily slumped against him, all strength leaving her body at once, and she would have fallen down if Loki hadn't been holding her so tightly. She buried her face in Loki's chest, her eyes closed, crying silently. Loki rubbed her back soothingly and planted soft kisses on her head.

"It's alright, darling", he whispered, "I'll take care of you."

After a moment, he loosened their embrace and looked at Emily again. He wiped her tears away carefully and ran his hand through her hair.

"Please, darling, look at me", he said, and finally, Emily raised her eyes to meet his gaze. He smiled tenderly and brushed his lips against her forehead, careful not to touch the injured part of her face. "I will bring you into my chambers now", he repeated, and Emily swallowed nervously.

"Loki, I can't just -"

Loki put his hands on Emily's waist, and she fell silent.

"Little one, I promise that I will never do anything that you do not want me to", he said softly, "But I will not let you stay here. Please, come with me."

"I can't", she whispered.

"Do you trust me?"

Emily locked her teary eyes with Loki's, and she nodded slowly.

He smiled. "Good. I promise that everything will be alright. I will pick up your clothes and everything else later, but is there anything you want to take with you now? Anything that is important to you?"

Emily hesitated for a second, then she nodded. "Don't - laugh now - but there is a - a stuffed cat in the bed -"

Loki flicked his wrist and immediately held a black, worn cat in his hand. Emily smiled and pressed it against her chest as if it was a valuable treasure.

"Can we go?"

Emily looked around, insecurity written all over her face. "I - I don't know -"

Loki wrapped his arms around her again. "But I do."

"Loki, Nick will be _furious_ -"

"Nick will never touch you again, darling."

A second later, Emily closed her eyes when the familiar feeling of cold water made her tremble. When she opened them again, they were sitting on Loki's bed.

Emily looked up at him. "I'm - I'm so sorry for causing you all this trouble -"

"It is no trouble at all. I will heal your face now."

Emily nodded and closed her eyes. He touched her face carefully and a second later, she opened her eyes again, relieved by the sudden lack of pain.

"Better?"

Emily smiled weakly. "Better. Thank you so much, Loki."

Loki frowned. "Do you have any other injuries?"

Emily bit her lip and lowered her gaze.

Loki took a deep breath to remain calm. "Where?"

When she hesitated, Loki lifted her chin.

"Where, Emily?" he asked firmly, but gently.

She took off the scarf she was wearing and revealed several dark marks on her throat and neck. Then she rolled up her pullover and showed him a big bruise across her ribcage and another, obviously older one on her back. Loki let his fingers wander over Emily's soft skin, slowly healing every one of her bruises. He himself had suffered innumerable injuries in his life, many of them almost lethal, but never has any injury hurt him as deeply as Emily's did on this day.

When he was finished, he looked into her eyes. He noticed vaguely that his eyes were wet, but he didn't care.

"Emily", he said softly, "Why did you never tell me?"

She raised her shoulders. "I was so ashamed", she whispered, and Loki shook his head.

"Of what? You did nothing wrong! This is not your fault!"

Emily looked up at him and he suddenly realized how tired and exhausted she looked.

"Darling, you should lie down and recover, and I will take care of everything else."

"You mean Nick?" Emily said fearfully.

Loki cocked his head, a murderous glint in his eyes. "Among other things."

"Please, Loki, can you just - please promise me that you won't go after him?"

Loki frowned. "Why?"

Emily suddenly sobbed out. "Please - just don't. Can't you just - just stay with me?"

Loki's face softened. "I will stay with you as long as you want me to."

She looked so small and helpless that he couldn't help but pull her against his chest as he lay down. Emily pressed her face against the soft skin of his neck and breathed in deeply, and Loki just held her in his arms. It took Emily only a few minutes until she had fallen asleep, soothed by Loki's closeness and warmth and the feeling of safety he radiated.

Loki closed his eyes and listened to her soft breathing. He enjoyed her being so close to him, but he was far from being calm. He couldn't believe that he hadn't realized what had been going on until today. There have been so many times he had thought that Emily looked tense and stressed when she was around Nick, so many times that he had witnessed how anxious Emily was when Nick became angry, so many times she had done everything she could to not deepen the issue of their relationship - and he had not figured it out. And even worse - there have been so many times when she had been sick or hurt; it had been just a few days ago that he had told her that _she got hurt too often_ \- how could he not have seen it? It was so obvious now.

He suddenly realized that Emily had never told him _how_ she had gotten hurt. She would tell him that she 'was sick' or 'got hurt', that she 'had a bruise' or that it 'was her own fault' - which she clearly believed, as he thought with a sudden sensation of fury - but she never told him how she got hurt in the first place. How could he not have noticed the way she had been tiptoeing around the truth?

He remembered how she had reacted when he had injured her in his sleep, how casually she had shrugged off the fact that he had hurt her, and his stomach churned.

_Of course she had shrugged it off, she was used to it._

There have been so many times he had thought that something was wrong with her, but he had never pressed her into telling him more; he had just watched her suffer without even realizing that she was suffering in the first place. And he was called the _god of lies_. If Emily hadn't been sleeping on his chest, he would certainly have destroyed a part of his furniture by now.

He suddenly thought about the night he had found her in the common room. She had told him that she'd had 'an argument with Nick' and that she had 'not wanted to stay with him' - what had that bastard done to Emily to make her run away in the middle of the night? Wasn't this the night she had cuddled up to him and asked him if he 'would watch over her' when she had already been half asleep? Why in Odin's name hadn't he been wondering why she would feel the need to be watched over?

Loki had to suppress a scream of rage as he let all these situations replay in his mind. He had been an idiot.

He looked down at Emily, who was sleeping peacefully in his arms, and stroked over her hair, smiling at the soft sigh she let out in her sleep.

He would make up for this. He would never let her down again. And he would most certainly make sure that this wretched mortal would never again lay a hand on her, too.

 

 

* * *

 

 

When Emily woke up, she was disoriented for a second. Then she looked up at Loki who was still holding her and smiled at him, obviously surprised.

"You're still here?"

Loki nodded. "I promised."

She lowered her gaze and whispered, "Thank you."

"You are most welcome."

For a moment, she hesitated. "Loki, I - I have to go back home."

Loki sat up and Emily righted herself, too. "You cannot be serious."

"I know it's - it's hard to understand -"

"Indeed."

"I - well - Nick is not perfect, but - Loki, he's the only one I have -"

Loki looked at her with narrowed eyes. "That is not true. You have me, too, and I will not let you go back to that pathetic vermin."

"I know how it looks like, but he really loves me -"

He shook his head in disbelief. "No. He does not. Maybe you think he does, maybe even this worm thinks he does, but he does not. No man that truly loved you would ever turn his hand against you."

Emily fiddled with her sleeves. "He's made mistakes, but -"

"Mistakes?"

"He's really sorry for what he's done."

Loki huffed. "And how many times has he been sorry before?"

Emily fell silent. Eventually, she looked up at Loki again. "I wouldn't have anything if it wasn't for Nick."

"What do you mean?"

She breathed in deeply. "He - he helped me a lot when I needed it, and - and -"

"That doesn't give him an excuse to beat you!"

Loki had not realized how loud his voice had become, and he gave his best to calm himself down.

"No, of course not - but - it's not as bad as you think it is, and it's just sometimes -"

"Even if it had been only once, it would have been reason enough for me to rip out his throat! I have _seen_ you, Emily, I have seen what he's done to you -"

Emily gave him a weak smile. "I can take it."

"Maybe you _can_ , but you _will not_. Not any longer. _I will not allow it._ "

"You really get him wrong, Loki - he can also be so sweet and caring -"

Loki snorted. "There are plenty of men who are sweet and caring who would never lay a hand on you! You deserve somebody who is _sweet and caring_ on every single day of his life!"

Emily looked down again. "Maybe I don't."

Loki turned to face her and looked into her eyes. "Why in Odin's name would you say that? You deserve nothing but joy and happiness, and you do certainly not deserve the sorrow this sad excuse for a man has to give you!"

"You don't know everything about me", Emily whispered, and Loki frowned.

"Then tell me! What could you possibly have done that makes you deserve such cruel treatment?"

At this, Emily finally burst out in tears. Loki's face softened, his rage and frustration replaced by concern and affection, and he reached out his hand and took Emily's in his. For a minute, they were sitting in silence until Loki started to speak again.

"You cannot possibly have done anything worse than I have. Do you think I deserve eternal torment for my crimes?"

Emily's eyes widened. "Of course not!"

"Then why -", he said softly, "- do you think that you do?"

She hesitated, then shook her head. "I don't know what to think anymore, I'm a total mess", she mumbled, burying her head in her arms.

"Then let me take care of you. You will just stay here until you can think straight again. Agreed?"

Emily looked at him carefully.

"Okay", she murmured eventually.

Loki smiled. "Good. I am going to pick up your belongings now."

"But - what if -"

Loki's smile turned into a vicious grin. "Do you worry about me or about Nick?"

"About you both! Please, promise me that you won't - won't -"

"- kill him?"

Oh, just the thought of it was enough to light up his face, and Emily seemed to have noticed it. Her expression became terrified and she grew pale.

"Promise me!"

Loki let out a growl. "Why do you wish for him to live?"

Emily, against her own will, chuckled nervously. "Loki, you can't just walk around and kill people - that's not how we solve problems on Earth!"

"But if they deserve it?"

"No!"

Loki sighed. "That is highly unsatisfying."

"And just imagine what would happen to _you_ if you killed someone!"

"It would be worth it", Loki growled.

Emily shook her head. "No, it wouldn't. Please, Loki. Nick shouldn't be home at this time, anyways, but if he is - Loki -"

Again, he sighed. "I promise that I will not kill him."

_I do not promise to not let him suffer terribly, though._

Emily didn't seem to be convinced, so he quickly smiled at her. "I will only pick up your belongings and leave again. Shall I just bring everything that is pink and covered in little hearts or cats or is there anything else I should be looking for?"

Finally, Emily laughed out. He had missed that sound.

"I do have a few things that are not pink. I'll make you a list." She hesitated. "It would be easier if I came with you, wouldn't it?"

"No", Loki said sternly, "Not at all."

 

 

* * *

 

 

Loki was only gone for half an hour, but Emily had been on the edge of a nervous breakdown the entire time. When he finally appeared in his apartment again with a few bags in his hands, she let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank you so much", she said sheepishly, and Loki smiled.

"You can use the wardrobe over there. I do not have anything in there, anyways." He hesitated. "Feel yourself at home."

A bright smile spread over Emily's face. "That was the first thing you ever said to me."

Loki, who remembered their first encounter very well, chuckled. "Well, this time, I mean it. Please, consider this to be your chambers, too. You can do whatever you want in here." He hesitated. "Just, please, do not paint the walls pink."

When he saw her laugh, he suddenly couldn't help but think that he probably wouldn't even mind if she did.

For a minute, she was slowly unpacking her things. Then she turned around to look at Loki again.

"Are you sure that you don't mind me being here?" she asked quietly, "I'm so sorry for the trouble - and you really don't have to let me stay here -"

Loki took a few books out of a bag and put them on a shelf.

"I don't have to, but I love to", he said firmly, "You are more than welcome here, and I am sure I will enjoy your company. And you are no trouble at all. Now cease your worrying."

She smiled at him. "Thank you. I mean it."

He winked at her and then scrunched up his nose when he pulled an old laptop out of the bag. "Now this looks quite archaic, even for midgardian standards."

Emily laughed. "I got it on ebay. Don't be so snobbish."

They both unpacked the bags for a while.

"I've been thinking", Emily said eventually, "Um - Nick will probably come here to look for me -"

Loki had been thinking about that, too, and he couldn't wait for it.

"I will take care of him, then. No, not like that", he added when Emily looked at him in shock.

"But - what will you do? If you tell him that I'm here with you - he won't just - accept that -"

"He will", Loki said nonchalantly, "Trust me."

Emily sat down on the floor and looked at some of the clothes she had just unpacked.

"I guess it's over, then", she mumbled, and Loki frowned.

"What do you mean?"

She avoided his gaze when she replied, "Nick and me. Our relationship."

"That is a good thing, little one", he said, and she looked up at him, her face full of doubts.

He sat down beside her. "I understand that it does not feel like that now. But it is. Trust me. I would never have thought that my banishment to Midgard would turn out to be a good thing, either - and now look at me."

Emily cocked her head. "What do you mean? I thought you hate to be here."

A small smile played in the corners of Loki's mouth. "I _hated_ it. Things have certainly changed since then. I would never have met such a marvelous friend as you are, for example."

Emily's cheeks turned crimson and she lowered her gaze.

"I'm really glad you feel more comfortable here now", she murmured. Then she looked up at him again when a thought struck her. "But what am I going to say to Tony? He will notice that I suddenly live here!"

Loki shrugged. "This is not something I say very often, but in this case - I would suggest telling the truth."

"No!" Emily exclaimed, "Please, don't tell anyone about this - please!"

"I won't", Loki quickly said, furrowing his brows at her sudden panic.

"I don't want them to think of me as - as -"

Loki shook his head. "Nobody would think anything of you; they would only think poorly of Nick. Trust me. But if you do not wish to let them know - we can just tell them half of the truth. That you had a fight with Nick and will stay here until things have been straightened out."

Emily eyed him thoughtfully. "Yeah, okay", she said eventually.

He returned her look. When he saw tears welling up in her eyes, he gave her a smile.

"You know who will be delighted? Nolan. I assume he is running around in the tower, desperately trying to finally catch a mouse for once in his life, but he usually returns in the evening. He will enjoy having you around."

Emily smiled happily. "That's true. I'll enjoy having him around again, too." She glanced at Loki when she added, "And having you around, too."

Loki hesitated. "I was suspecting you to be angry because of - well."

She blushed. "No, of course not. I know you didn't mean that, it was - just an accident. I wasn't angry at all, Loki. I just couldn't write you because - my phone - it's broken. I asked Tony to say hello to you so _you_ wouldn't be angry at _me_."

She chuckled, but Loki furrowed his brows.

"What happened to your phone?"

When Emily avoided his gaze, he pressed his lips together tightly.

"Nick threw it against a wall", she admitted quietly, "It's shattered."

Loki shook his head. "Did he even tell you that I called you?"

Emily frowned and then, suddenly, a thought seemed to strike her. When Loki saw the expression of sudden realization on her face, his heart missed a beat.

"That was the reason for it, was it not?" he said through gritted teeth, "He did that to you because I called you?"

Emily looked down, ashamed. "I'm not sure why -"

"When did he do it?" Loki asked her firmly, and Emily glanced at him.

"I was grocery shopping on Saturday, and when I came back - I had no idea what had gotten into him -"

"It was because of me", Loki stated, "I called you, but Nick answered the phone. He said he'd let you know that I called." He laughed bitterly.

Emily eyed him carefully. "That's not your -"

"How many times?" Loki interrupted her, and Emily frowned.

"What?"

"How many times has he hurt you because of me?"

When Emily didn't answer, he hissed, "After we've been in the zoo? At Tony's party? When the Russian told him about our lessons?"

"Loki, stop -"

" _You should have told me!_ " Loki exclaimed, jumping to his feet, "I could have helped you! Why did you let this _dryttsekk_ hurt you, Emily? Why did you not tell me? He hurt you because of _me_ , you should have let me know!"

Emily stood up, too, nervously biting her lip. "I'm sorry -"

"Stop apologizing!" he shouted, but his face softened instantly when Emily's eyes widened in fear. "I did not mean to frighten you, little one. I just - the thought that - that he hurt you _because of me_ -"

"It's not your fault, Loki -"

Loki huffed. "I should have seen it much sooner. I cannot believe I did not see it -"

"Loki, over the last months you've been the only one who's seen me at all", Emily said softly, "I don't know what I would have done without you. I _wanted_ to tell you everything, but I - I just couldn't. Loki, I'm sor- " She bit her lip before she could end the apology.

Loki took a deep breath. "Please, little one, never apologize to me again. _I_ should apologize. _I_ am sorry." He pulled her into a tight embrace and buried his face in her soft hair. "I promised that I would watch over you, but I didn't. I promised that I would not let anything happen to you, but I did. I failed you. And I will never fail you again."

 

 


	23. Begging For Your Death

 

Sooo, yesterday my mother asked me to bake cookies for our family's Easter brunch - I guess she was thinking about little bunnies or chicks or something like that, but I chose to bake the most glorious cookies in the history of cookies instead and that's why my whole family got Loki'd today :D  
I just had to share this with you because I had so much fun baking (and eating!) the little Lokis.  
I wish I could give everyone of you a glorious Loki cookie, too!!  
Anyways, I hope you had a very happy Easter and will enjoy this chapter.  
And here the cookies come, burdened with glorious flavour:

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

"That is seriously fucking delicious", Emily moaned, and Loki chuckled.

"Why do you sound so surprised? I thought you had learnt by now that my natural capabilities allow me to be quite brilliant at almost anything."

"Except for humility", Emily said through a mouthful of the most delicious dish she had ever had.

Loki nodded, smirking. "Except for humility. And conquering other realms. Those are my only two weaknesses."

"Well, I can teach you one of them", Emily joked.

Loki stared at her with widened eyes. "You know how to conquer other realms? Why did you not tell me long ago?"

Emily laughed out. "Seriously though", she said a moment later, "Why are you so good at cooking? I'd thought you had cooks and kitchen staff taking care of that all your life, being royal and stuff."

"Naturally. But when I was sent to this pathetic tower without any servants for me, I thought it best to learn how to cook myself."

Emily smirked. "Was that the first time in your very long life that you had to cook for yourself?"

Loki shot her an amused glance. "Let us not deepen this subject."

"Poor prince."

"Indeed."

Loki watched Emily eat, a thoughtful smile on his face. When they had been done unpacking Emily's things, Loki had decided to make lunch for them. He was delighted to see Emily so relaxed now - joking and laughing, just like she usually did - but it also gave him an uncomfortably precise understanding of why it had been so easy for him to disregard how troubled she had been in the past. Mere hours ago she had been covered in bruises, crying and broken; and here she was now - beaming and joking around as if she was the happiest girl alive. If anybody were to see her now, they would probably have a hard time believing what she was actually going through at the moment.

Emily eyed him cautiously. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, of course."

"Really? You looked so strange."

Loki sighed. "Emily - I love to see you smile again. But - well, I just want you to know that you can always be honest with me. You do not have to hide yourself, ever."

Emily looked at him, suddenly very serious.

"Well, sometimes you can only laugh or cry", she said eventually, her voice low, her gaze now glued to the table in front of her, "And most of the times I rather choose to laugh, you know? But right now, with you around - I actually just feel - safe and - I feel comfortable with you." She hesitated for a moment before she continued. "I know what you mean, though. I do hide myself a lot, I guess. I just - I don't know. It's usually safer for me."

"Never hide yourself from me", Loki said softly, "You are safe with me either way."

Emily gave him a smile, her chest suddenly tight with emotions. "I know. Thank you, Loki." She hesitated and then added, "Really. I mean it. I don't even know how I could ever thank you -"

"Maybe you can teach me how to conquer other realms in return."

Emily laughed out again. "Will you stop thinking about conquering a realm now?"

Loki smiled. "I have a long time ago, to be honest."

"You have?"

Loki nodded, cocking his head thoughtfully. "I doubt I would be much happier if I were king of a realm. I think I never truly wished to be king; all I ever wanted was to obtain acceptance, to be shown appreciation. But truth be told, I am beginning to feel more accepted and appreciated here in Midgard where I am no one than I ever felt in Asgard as a prince and even as king."

Emily looked at him, her face soft. "You're definitely not no one, Loki."

He looked up at her and their eyes locked.

"I'm happy to hear that you've reconsidered your plans, though", she teased him after a moment, "I would have missed you if you'd have left to be King of Naboo one day."

The god laughed out. "Maybe I would have taken you with me and made you Queen. They seem to be quite fond of female rulers there."

Emily giggled. "Admit it, you liked Star Wars!"

"If one condones the innumerable mistakes concerning the cosmic space and military tactics, it has been an enjoyable and quite enthralling tale with surprising depth, considering that it has been concocted by mere mortal beings."

"I'll take that as a yes. Hey, you know what, I have a lot more movies we could watch together!"

Loki raised his eyebrows. "Is that so?"

Emily stuck out her tongue. "Yes, that is so. I mean, you're supposed to familiarize yourself with us humans, aren't you? Then you should start to really get to know the things we do for entertainment, too. Movies, music, food, typical activities -" She suddenly beamed at him. "- You know what, that's going to be _my_ lessons for _you!_ I'll teach you about our culture! Ha, and you can't say no because I agreed to your lessons, too." She leaned back in her chair, looking rather pleased with herself.

Loki chuckled. "Very well, then. I yield."

With a bright smile Emily continued eating. "I'll make a list. I can already check off pizza, the zoo and Star Wars."

Loki snorted with laughter. "I doubt that these movies can be considered as culture."

Emily placed a hand over her heart, gasping dramatically. "Oh, how dare you!"

Loki raised his hands and bowed his head with a smirk. "I meant no disrespect."

"Well, now you'll have to go to the movies with me when the next Star Wars movie comes out, as a punishment."

He looked at her, pretending to be filled with horror. "There are more movies to come?"

"Oh, much to learn you still have, my young padawan."

Loki groaned. "Woman, I am a god, I am thousands of years old, I have seen realms and realities you could not even dream of - pray tell, why exactly am _I_ the padawan in this?"

Emily smirked. "Do you know who Dumbledore is?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"See, that is why."

 

 

* * *

 

 

When they had finished lunch, Loki had asked Emily if she was fine with being alone for a while, and she had told him that she was craving a relaxing bath, anyways, so he'd left her in his apartment to go to Tony. He had a brief conversation with J.A.R.V.I.S. before he teleported into Tony's office - just to annoy him, actually - and he was quite disappointed when Tony didn't even bat an eyelid at his sudden appearance.

"Look who's here", he just said, and Loki took a mental note to think of a more shocking appearance for his next visit. "What do you want?"

Loki sat down on Tony's desk, his legs spread wide. "I wish to inform you that I will not be able to accompany you on the next mission."

Tony frowned. "And why's that?"

"There are personal matters I need to take care of."

"Uh-huh. Yeah, uh, no."

Loki raised an eyebrow. "I beg your pardon?"

Tony crossed his arms. "You've been acting strange for a few days now, and you refused to tell me the reason for it. If you're going to skip our company outing, I'm going to at least need a reason for it."

Loki huffed. "You are not my chaperon and you are certainly not a person with any right to demand accountability from me."

"Wrong. If I suspect that you're up to something, I am actually both."

Loki shook his head. "You think I am up to something? And what exactly would that be, I wonder?"

Tony shrugged. "No idea. You tell me."

"I am not up to anything. I merely need a few days to take care of something personal, which I can assure you is not a matter of public concern."

"Come on, Ani. What's wrong? I thought we're buddies now."

Loki eyed Tony cautiously. Sooner or later Emily would have to tell him that she was living in his apartment, anyways. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to tell him rather sooner than later just to escape further questions.

"It is a personal matter of Emily, actually, but she asked me to assist her, and it will keep me occupied for a few days."

Tony frowned. "Emily? Did you see her?"

"She is in my apartment. And she will stay for a while."

For a few seconds, Tony just looked at Loki with narrowed eyes before he said, "Okay, you will tell me right now. What is going on?"

Loki sighed. He should have known that Tony wouldn't be satisfied that easily.

"Did you not hear what I just said, mortal? Emily will stay with me for a while and requires my assistance. That is what's going on."

Tony huffed. "That doesn't make any sense at all. What's wrong with Emily? Why the hell is she going to stay with you? And what does she need assistance with?"

The god rolled his eyes. "Listen -" he said, but before he could go on, J.A.R.V.I.S.' voice was sounding through the office.

"Mr. Friggason, Sir, the situation you asked me to tell you about is occurring at this moment."

Loki straightened himself and turned around, and Tony blinked a few times in confusion before he followed him through the door.

"The situation? What situation? What is occurring? What the _hell_ is going on here?"

Loki's face was stern. "Nothing of interest for you, Stark."

"Yeah sure - tell me, Ani."

When Loki didn't react, Tony rolled his eyes. "Fine - J.A.R.V.I.S., what is the 'situation' occuring at this moment?"

"My deepest apologies, Sir, but I am not authorised to tell you."

Tony's entire face looked as if he'd just been elektroshocked. "What the - _Vader!_ What have you done to - hey!"

Loki had entered the elevator and the doors were about to close when Tony kicked his foot into the gap, making them open again to step inside.

"You'll tell me what's going on right now! Where are you even going?"

Loki, his arms folded, waited patiently until the elevator was moving before he gave Tony a smirk, pushed the elevator's emergency button and vanished.

"Fuck!" Tony yelled, "J.A.R.V.I.S., reset the control system of the elevators and get this damn thing to move again!"

"Of course, Sir. It might take a moment."

 

 

* * *

 

 

Loki appeared out of thin air in the entrance hall of the tower, and the mortal whose way he was blocking stopped dead in his tracks.

"What the hell - _you!_ "

"Me", Loki confirmed with a deadly smile on his face, "Hello, Nick."

Nick tried to walk past Loki, but Loki mimicked his movements, blocking his way calmly and without saying a single word.

"What the - let me pass!"

Loki cocked his head and Nick finally noticed the murderous glint in his eyes. He gritted his teeth.

"I'm here to look for my fiancée, dude, so just -"

Loki's voice was calm when he interrupted Nick. "Neither is she your fiancée, nor is there any need for you to look for her. You should leave, _mortal_." He emphasised the last word and the poorly hidden threat was obvious.

"So she's here? She shouldn't be working, she's had an accident -"

Loki took a step towards Nick, brushing against his chest, and Nick had to tilt his head back a little to look up to the tall god towering over him.

"She is not working. And do not worry, I have taken care of the injuries from her -", he paused for a split second and lowered his voice, "- _accident_."

Nick narrowed his eyes at Loki. "Well, I still want to talk to her!"

Loki took another step towards Nick, who stepped back in response, and they continued this procedure until Nick could feel a solid wall behind his back.

" _Leave, mortal._ Leave, or I will squash you like the little pathetic cockroach that you are. And believe me, the only reason I have not done that yet is Emily, who, for some inexplicable reason, has asked me to spare your miserable life."

Nick's skin had become a little pale, but he still returned Loki's gaze defiantly. "You can't keep me from seeing my girlfriend! She's gonna come home with me now -"

Loki bowed his head, his face so close to Nick's that the mortal could feel his breath on his skin when he said, "You do not seem to understand. Emily is not your girlfriend anymore, and she will most certainly not come with you." His voice was almost a growl when he added, emphasizing every single word, " _You will not see her again."_

"That's not up to you! And you can't do anything to me", Nick added, "As far as I know, you would go straight back to jail!"

Loki gave him a murderous, cold smile. "Even an eternity of imprisonment would be worth the joy of hearing your miserable whimpering while I kill you. I would still relish the memory of your slow and ferocious murder when your remains will long be reduced to ashes."

Nick opened his mouth, but only managed to make a faint rasping sound. He could have sworn that there had just been a red glow in Loki's eyes.

Loki smiled down at him. "Am I right to believe that you understand what I just told you?"

Nick cleared his suddenly very dry throat. "Yes."

"Very well."

It took all of Loki's self control to turn away from the man, but he did, even if reluctantly - he had promised Emily to not kill him and he was quite sure that he would not be able to deny himself the pleasure of doing so if he stayed with him much longer. He was, however, deeply grateful when the pathetic, stupid mortal decided to challenge him further and gave him an excuse to hurt him.

He was already a few feet away from him when Nick suddenly followed him and said, "But -"

The mortal never said his next words - this single one had been enough for Loki to wheel around and grasp Nick's throat, slamming him into the wall with brutal force. He heard something crack at the impact and wasn't sure if it was the wall or some of Nick's bones - he deeply wished that it was the latter. Nick's mouth was still open, but the heavy collision and Loki's violent grip around his throat didn't allow him to even think of making another sound.

"If you ever lay a finger on her again, I will break your neck", he spat, "And trust me, mortal, at this point you will already be begging for your death. You will never come here again, and you will never see or talk to her again. You will forget that she even exists and if you refuse to, I will happily torture you into insanity."

He squeezed Nick's throat and had to hold himself back from crushing it. Nick was already gagging beneath his hand when Loki suddenly heard Tony's voice from across the hall.

"Loki, what the fuck -"

Loki shot him an angry glance and when Tony came nearer, his mouth dropped open at the sight of the red gleaming inside of Loki's eyes.

"Loki, buddy - calm down, will you?"

The god looked down at Nick again, who was choking and spluttering now, his face turning from red to an ugly, blue color.

"Did you understand now or do you wish for me to give you a foretaste of the torture I plan to inflict on you?" he hissed, and the terrified Nick seemed to give his best to shake his head.

Tony put his hand on Loki's shoulder. "Buddy, whatever this is about, it's not gonna do Emily any good if you're back in some otherworldly prison!"

Loki hissed furiously, but he finally let go of Nick.

The mortal slumped to the ground, desperately gasping for air while he tried to get back on his feet without succeeding.

"You'll - regret - that", he croaked out.

Loki was already turning around again when Tony grabbed his forearm and squeezed it firmly.

"Don't, buddy."

He turned around to face Nick, who was still squatting on the floor, and got down on one knee to look into his eyes while Loki was glaring at them, fury still radiating from his body.

"Boy, you should leave now. I have no idea what's going on between you two, but trust me, if you don't leave right now, you're gonna be the one who'll regret it. Or not, I guess", Tony corrected himself thoughtfully, "I doubt you'd still be able to."

Nick shot both of them an angry glare as he slowly pulled himself up, leaving a wet puddle on the wooden floor. He walked through the doors without another look back at Tony, who's stern gaze followed him until he left the building, or at Loki, who'd clenched his fists so tightly that his grip would have been able to pulverise a stone in mere seconds.

When Nick was out of sight, Tony turned to face Loki. "What the fuck was that about?"

He was more confused than angry, actually. He could tell by the look on Loki's face that there was indeed something going on here that he didn't know about, just as he'd suspected, and he wouldn't let the god get away again without telling him exactly what he needed to know.

Loki took a deep breath. "None of your concern", he hissed through gritted teeth.

Stark crossed his arms. "Really? It's none of my concern that you just made my assistant's boyfriend wet himself on my fucking mahagoni floor?"

Loki's eyes flickered to the wet spot and a malicious smile played around the corners of his mouth. Then he looked at Tony.

"He is no longer her boyfriend."

Tony's eyes widened. "You've got to be kidding me, _that's_ the reason for what's just happened here? Jealousy? Are you -"

Loki let out a huff and walked through the hall, and Tony followed him.

"Hey! Don't you huff at me, mister! As long as you live under my roof, there is no killing around!"

When Loki pushed the button of the elevator, Tony narrowed his eyes. "I'm not gonna fall for that again."

Loki raised an eyebrow as he stepped into the elevator, and Tony seemed to fight with himself for a second until he gave up and followed him inside.

"Now would you care to explain why I just had to bar you from murdering the boy?"

"He's not a boy, he's a cockroach", Loki hissed.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Listen, if I didn't think that you might have some weird reason for what you've just done, I'd have called your brother to take you back to your little cell already, so would you just tell me now?"

Loki looked at him for a second. "I cannot tell you, Tony."

Tony raised his eyebrows when he heard Loki use his name.

"Emily does not want me to inform anybody. Just - know that I do indeed have a reason."

"But holy shit, you almost killed the guy, what reason could -"

"If you had seen what this bastard has done to Emily, you would have choked the wretched mortal to death yourself", Loki hissed and pressed his lips together when he realized that he'd already said more than he'd intended to.

Tony looked at him with narrowed eyes when the ugly truth finally dawned on him. "Are you trying to tell me that - that this son of a bitch has - _hurt_ her?"

Loki gritted his teeth. "I am not trying to tell you anything, for Emily does not wish for anyone to know about this."

Tony took a deep breath. "Well", he said eventually, "You could have - _not told me_  - about this before. We could've killed the guy together."

The corners of Loki's mouth twitched a little.

Tony ran his hands through his hair. "That fucking bastard." He looked back at Loki. "That's why she's staying with you?"

Loki nodded.

Tony shook his head, trying to progress what the god had just told him. "Is she alright?"

Loki cocked his head. "She will be."

For a few long seconds Tony watched Loki with a thoughtful expression on his face. When the elevator stopped on Loki's floor, he  slapped on the god's shoulder.

"Take care of her", he said, and Loki nodded before he stepped out to walk to his apartment, Tony's pensive gaze following him.

 


	24. Thank You For Not Murdering My Boyfriend

Loki took a few deep breaths before he opened the door. It had been quite a challenge to let the wretched mortal live, and now that he had been successful, it felt far from satisfying. _He did not deserve to live._ Maybe he should just find a way to kill him and let it look like an accident - that was the way Nick had done it with Emily, wasn't it? A new wave of fury washed over him and he closed his eyes, trying to calm himself down. He didn't want to appear angry to Emily, he wanted her to feel safe around him, not intimidated. The problem was that this wasn't exactly his specialty.

When he walked into his apartment, he could hear a voice from the bathroom - a beautiful voice, an angel's voice, a high, clear sound that was singing a wonderful, yet sad melody. He froze. Was that _Emily?_ He had never heard her sing before.

He walked to the bathroom and waited in front of the door, listening to the words that this soft, beautiful voice was singing.

 

 _I'm a ghost of the girl that I want to be most_  
_I'm the shell of a girl that I used to know well_  
_I'm dancing slowly in an empty room_  
_Can the lonely take the place of you?_  
_I sing myself a quiet lullaby_  
_I let you go and let the lonely in_  
_To take my heart again_

 

Loki's chest was tight and when the singing ended, he let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding.

When the bathroom door suddenly opened, Loki stumbled backwards in surprise, a little embarrassed that he had been caught eavesdropping. It was nothing compared to the look of embarrassment and shock on Emily's face, though.

"Oh god, I'm sorry, I didn't know you were back - please don't tell me you heard me sing?"

Loki opened his mouth, but it was just at this moment that he realized that Emily was only wrapped up in a towel - a towel that was quite small. It revealed her bare legs as well as a part of her cleavage, and Loki suddenly found himself lost for words. Emily's wet hair was falling down on her bare shoulders in little, dark ringlets and Loki had the sudden urge to run his hand through them while ripping down the towel with his other hand and pressing her naked, wet body against his -

Emily seemed to realize that she wasn't exactly clothed when she felt his gaze on her body, and she squeaked as she stepped back into the bathroom and closed the door.

"I'm so sorry", she yelled from inside.

Loki felt an amused smirk form on his lips. There was rarely a reason for Emily's frequent apologies, but this time - no, this time she certainly didn't need to be sorry at all. He cleared his throat.

"No problem. Do you need anything?"

_A helping hand, maybe?_

Loki shook his head, trying to recollect his wits. He noticed that his pants have become uncomfortably tight and he rolled his eyes at his own indecency.

"No, no I'm fine, thank you - I - I'll just wait in here until I'm not dying from embarrassment anymore, okay?"

Loki chuckled. "Okay."

He gave his best to distract himself from the daydreams he was just about to lose himself in - he definitely needed to work on his self-control.

When Emily came out of the bathroom the next time, she was wearing black sweatpants and a pink pullover. She blushed when she spotted Loki sitting on the couch with a book in his hands and sat down next to him.

"So I don't even live here for a day and you've already seen me half naked. Can't get much worse, I guess", she said with a shameful grin, and Loki smirked.

"I can't complain, actually", he teased her and enjoyed watching her cheeks turn crimson. "You have a beautiful voice", he added more seriously.

Emily rolled her eyes. "Well, great. Couldn't you at least have left me a little bit of dignity?"

"I am serious", Loki smiled, "I enjoyed to hear you sing."

She fiddled with her sweatshirt's sleeves and mumbled something that sounded like "god of lies". Then she looked at him questioningly.

"You're back soon. How did things go with Tony?"

Loki glanced at her. "Everything is well. I told him that I will not be a part of the mission that starts tomorrow and that you will stay here for a while."

Emily frowned. "Why won't you join the mission?"

"I have lessons to attend."

She laughed. "So eager to become my victim?" Then her face became serious. "You don't have to stay here because of me, Loki."

"I know, but I wish to", Loki replied firmly, and Emily smiled.

"Thank you."

Loki looked at her pensively. He was unsure if he should tell her about his encounter with Nick. It might stir her up if he told her about it, but he assumed that she would find out at some point anyways, so he could just as well tell her right now. He also felt an unfamiliar need to tell the truth when he was around Emily, which he started to find a little worrying.

"And what else is there?" she asked suspiciously, and Loki realized that his gaze had been glued to her face the entire time.

"Nick has come to look for you", he replied carefully.

Emily tensed up immediately. "What - what did he say? What happened?"

"He said that he wanted to see you and that you should come home with him, and I made it quite clear to him that neither would be happening."

"Did you - um, did you -"

"I did not hurt him. Not severely."

Emily frowned. "But a bit?"

Loki raised his shoulders. "Just enough to let him know what would happen if he ever touched you again." Loki's voice became a growl at the end of the sentence. "But he does not have any lasting injuries", he assured her, his voice full of regret.

"Thank you", Emily whispered.

"For scaring him away or for not killing him?"

"Both."

Loki huffed. "You are welcome for the first, but not for the second. It was rather challenging to spare him."

Emily let out a sudden giggle and put her hand in front of her mouth in the very next second.

The god beside her eyed her suspiciously. "Why are you laughing?"

She shook her head, still giggling beneath her hand. "I'm sorry, it's - it's totally inappropiate to laugh about this - I don't know what's wrong with me -" she said, trying to keep herself from bursting with laughter, "- but I just imagined giving you a sweet little thank you card that says _'Thank you for not murdering my boyfriend'_ -" she guffawed at the thought.

Loki watched her, torn between amusement and bewilderment.

Emily stopped laughing when a sudden thought struck her. "I guess he's not my boyfriend anymore, though."

She shot Loki a nervous look. "Did he - say anything to you?"

He shook his head. "Just that he wanted to talk to you."

"Maybe I should", Emily mumbled, looking at the ground, "It wasn't fair to just leave without talking to him first."

Loki frowned. "You do not mean that, do you?"

"Well... it's the only decent thing to do. I mean, usually, when you break up with someone, you don't just run away - you talk about things, and explain why you're leaving -"

Loki huffed. "If he is truly wondering why you are gone, he must be an even worse fool than I thought him to be. You do not owe him anything. Neither an explanation, nor anything else."

Emily remained silent.

There were still hundreds of questions Loki wanted to ask her. He wanted to understand what it was that had made Emily stay with Nick for so long, why she'd let him treat her the way he had, why she believed to not deserve any better, what exactly it was that Nick had helped her with - but as he looked at Emily, who was now huddling on the couch, her legs tucked up and her arms wrapped around them, gazing into nothingness, he decided that all of this could wait.

"So", he said, "shall we begin with your lessons, then?"

Emily looked at him, surprise written on her face. "Really?"

"Sure. What did you plan for today?"

"Um - well -" Emily stuttered, and then her face lit up. "There's another trilogy I love, and I think you might actually like it, too!"

Loki raised an eyebrow, just to tease her, and she slapped his chest playfully. "It's called 'The lord of the rings' -"

He interrupted her. "Does it have anything to do with the books?"

Emily frowned. "Yes! They're based on them - how do you know the books?"

Loki smirked. "I am quite literate. I always enjoyed reading the classical literature of all the nine realms - well, of the ones that have literature, that is. I truly did enjoy these particular midgardian works."

She beamed at him. "Me too! Did you know that Tolkien has been inspired by norse mythology?"

"No", Loki teased her, "I never noticed the striking parallels to the very history I have been a part of."

Emily stuck out her tongue. "Has anybody ever told you that you're a smartass?"

"No one but Thor would ever have dared to speak to me like that", Loki smirked, and Emily grinned.

"Well, you can add my name to that short list now, too, _smartass._ "

Loki laughed out. "Careful there, you might be my favourite mortal, but even with you, my forbearance knows its limits."

Emily had blushed at the term 'favourite mortal' and was grinning now. "Then I apologize for my impudence - um - uh - well, how do people at your home even address you properly?"

"Your Highness, Your Grace or Your Majesty."

She stared at him. "Seriously?"

He shrugged. "Naturally. These are my titles, little one."

"So you are 'Your Majesty' and I am 'Little one'? Doesn't seem fair."

Again, Loki had to laugh. "I grant you permission to call me by my name, my dearest lady Emily."

Emily smirked. "I gratefully acknowledge your immeasurable generosity, Your Majesty."

"Very well. You would have to do a curtsy, though."

"Yeah, dream on", Emily giggled. "I don't even know how to do one, anyways."

Loki frowned. "You do not know how to do a _curtsy?_ "

"Um, well, not really. Don't you have to get down on one knee and hold your dress up or something?"

Rolling his eyes as he stood up, Loki let out a deep sigh. "Or something, exactly. Stand up."

Emily laughed out. "What? Do you want to teach me how to do a curtsy now?"

"Precisely. See, this is how you properly -"

Emily couldn't stop herself when Loki did a gracious curtsy in front of her - she burst with laughter.

"You look like a Disney princess when you do that!"

"I do not know what you mean with that, but you should be honoured, really. I have obviously never done a curtsy before and would not allow anyone else to witness such inappropriate behaviour."

"But it looked _so_ good on you! And now put on a dress and a tiara and do it again!"

Loki narrowed his eyes at her. "You are mocking me. That is a truly outrageous thing to do when you stand in front of a prince."

She jumped to her feet and made a rather awkward attempt of a curtsy.

"I beg your pardon, Your Grace", she smirked before she let herself fall back onto the couch again.

The god looked at the ceiling in mocking desperation. "You mortals truly suffer from severe lack of etiquettes."

Emily was still grinning. "Well, get over it, Mr. High-and-mighty."

"That was rude."

"I'm sorry."

"No, you are not."

"No, I am not."

 

 

* * *

 

 

They had barely made it through the first half of the movie when Loki noticed that Emily had fallen asleep. Her head was lying on the backrest of the couch, and Loki decided that it looked way too uncomfortable to let her stay like this. He picked her up carefully, cradling her head against his chest, and carried her into his bed. She just sighed a little at his touch, but didn't wake up. When he had tucked her in, he sat down beside her, carefully brushing her hair out of her face, and watched her thoughtfully.

She had been quite good-humoured this evening, but he could sense that she was, of course, still caught up in an enormous emotional turmoil. He assumed that it would take some time for her to sort herself out, and it had become quite clear that she was in need of assistance with that. But he had no idea how he could help her with overcoming her obvious lack of self-confidence. How could he possibly prove her that she didn't deserve somebody like Nick, that she wasn't alone in this world and that she was a precious, valuable person? If she could only see herself through his eyes - she would never doubt herself again.

Loki yawned silently. It was still early in the evening, but he had to admit that he was exhausted. He hadn't slept much over the past few days, he had rather spent his time worrying about Emily, and his body seemed to finally claim its right for some recovery.

He looked at Emily, unsure if he should sleep on the couch or in his bed, too. It was big enough for them not to touch each other - not that he would have minded it - and she had been comfortable with it before, so he assumed that she wouldn't mind if he shared the bed with her again. With a flick of his wrist he got rid of his clothes and replaced them with black sweatpants before he lay down next to Emily. He couldn't take his eyes off of her.

She was breathing calmly and peacefully. Loki couldn't help himself - he craved her closeness. He longed for her to snuggle into him the way she had done before, her face pressed into his bare chest, her body pulled into his tight embrace so he could just hold her again. Of course he could just nestle up to her himself, he could wrap his arms around her and _make_ her snuggle into him, but it didn't feel right to him to touch her without her consent. Instead, he moved a few inches closer to her, just close enough for him to feel the warmth that was radiating from her body, and with a deep sigh he closed his eyes and let himself drift off to sleep.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Loki started up from his sleep when he heard somebody scream, and he was in full warrior mode in a brief second - he was holding his daggers in both hands and his eyes were scanning the room for possible invaders and the source of the noise that had woken him up.

When his gaze fell on Emily who was panting and whimpering in her sleep, her arms pressed tightly against her chest, his grim look was instantly replaced with a concerned one. His daggers vanished and he leaned over Emily, watching her face carefully. She was obviously having a nightmare, her body was trembling and she made sounds that reminded Loki of the noise that Fenrir had made when he had stepped on his tail once.

He touched her shoulder. "Little one?"

She whimpered in response, and he hesitated before he poked her arm again.

"Emily?"

This time, she heard him. She sat up with a frightened cry, clutching her arms around her body, and her gaze flickered through the room.

When Loki cupped her face, she recoiled with a scream. "Don't touch me!"

He quickly pulled his hand back, horror-stricken by her reaction. "Emily, it is me, I did not mean to scare you -"

She was shifty-eyed; her gaze only flickering at him when he was speaking, and Loki suddenly remembered that she was a mortal - she couldn't see in the dark, all she could see right now was pitch-black darkness.

"I will turn on the lights", he warned her and flicked his wrist, bathing the room in faint light.

When Emily looked up at him, she blinked a few times and frowned before her face suddenly relaxed.

"Oh god, Loki, it's you", she breathed, "I'm so sorry, I thought -" She closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath, still shaking.

"You were having a nightmare", Loki told her, and Emily nodded slowly.

She ran her fingers through her curly hair, still panting, and then looked at Loki again. "I - I have to go to the bathroom, I'll be right back - I'm sorry for waking you up, please, just go back to sleep."

Her voice was strained and Loki frowned, but Emily was already walking to the bathroom.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yes, sure, don't worry", Emily replied with a higher voice than usual and stepped into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

For a second everything was silent - and then Loki heard muffled crying from the room. It was very quiet, he wouldn't have been able to hear it had he been mortal - but he wasn't, and so he rose from his bed and knocked on the bathroom door.

"Sweet one, I can hear you crying. Please come out."

There was a sniff, and then he heard Emily's teary voice. "How the hell could you hear that?"

Loki chuckled. "I'm a god, remember?"

He heard her huff and smiled at the sound. "Come on, get out."

Another sniff. "I don't want you to see me crying all the time."

"Did I not tell you that you shall never hide yourself from me? Please, get out." When she didn't reply, he sighed. "Very well, then am I allowed to come in?"

For a few seconds, Emily didn't say anything, then - "Okay."

He pushed down the doorhandle just to find the door locked and decided to just teleport into the bathroom instead. When he appeared on the other side of the door, he frowned as he saw Emily sitting on the floor, huddling up against the bathtub with her legs tucked up. For a second he considered to pick her up and carry her into his bed again, but then he decided to just sit down next to her.

When he had a closer look on her, he realized that she was trembling and crying silently, obviously fighting with herself not to sob out louder.

"Emily?" he said softly, and she glanced at him.

"I'm sorry, it was just a nightmare."

"I know. And please stop apologizing." He hesitated. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Emily shook her head, and Loki nodded. He had never told anyone about his nightmares, either.

With his eyes on her face Loki slowly reached out and put his arm around her shoulder, pulling her against his body, and after stiffening for a second Emily finally leaned against him. He rubbed soothingly over her shoulder and could literally feel how she let go of her self-restraint as she began to sob her heart out in his arms. Loki didn't say anything, he just kept petting her shoulder, and Emily cried and cried until she thought that she just didn't have any tears left inside of her.

A few minutes after she had stopped crying, she suddenly trailed his naked chest with her fingertips, sending shivers over Loki's body.

"I'm sorry, I've made you wet", she muttered, and Loki realized that his skin was indeed wet from her tears. He smiled.

"I can take that", he replied and planted a kiss on her head. "Do you feel better?"

"Much better", Emily replied, "Thank you."

Loki hummed. Then he wriggled his hips a little. "You could have chosen a more comfortable place for crying, darling", he teased her, but Emily stayed silent.

"I always hid in the bathroom", she said eventually, her voice feeble, "When I was a child and my father went after me, I hid in our bathroom when I was quick enough to escape him. It was the only door that could be locked."

Loki looked at her, shaken at the mental image of a little kid that locked itself up to be safe from its father.

Emily stared at the dark floor. "And sometimes, when Nick lost it, I ran into his bathroom and locked myself up, too. Just like I did when I was little."

He wasn't called Silvertongue for nothing, but at this very moment, Loki was lost for words. He pulled Emily closer, trying to hold her as tightly as he could without hurting her, and Emily nestled up to him, gratefully accepting the solace he offered her.

"I'm so pathetic", she whispered, "To let him treat me just like my father has."

Loki stroked her hair gently. "You are not pathetic at all. You have lived what you've learned. You were raised by a monster who told you that you were worthless, and when the one person you sought love and solace from told you the same, you believed him." He paused. "That does not make _you_ pathetic, Emily, it makes _them_ pathetic."

Emily remained silent for a moment. "You really don't - don't think I'm pathetic? Or stupid? You don't - pity me?"

He shook his head slowly. "You are an extraordinary woman, Emily, and you are far from pathetic and stupid. I do not pity you at all. I pity your father and Nick, for they have lost the most precious and beautiful thing they could ever have found in this or any other world."

Emily felt tears welling up in her eyes and her chest tightened, and when she opened her mouth, she could not make a single sound.

She silently reached out for Loki's hand instead, hoping that he would understand the gesture as a sign for how much his words meant to her, how much she appreciated him and that words alone could never express the gratefulness and love she felt for him at this moment, and when Loki squeezed her hand gently, planting another soft kiss on her head, she knew that, even without words, he had heard what she had tried to say to him.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * The lyrics that Emily sings are from Cristina Perri - The Lonely


	25. Now You Know Everything

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Emily finally tells Loki everything about her past and how she ended up with Nick.  
> TW: Self harm and suicide will come up, there are no graphic descriptions, but if these are sensitive topics for you, please take care.  
> And I promise, the next chapters will be lighter! :)  
> I hope you like the chapter despite its severity.

When Loki woke up the next morning, he noticed with delight that Emily had been sleeping in his arms the entire night. After they had returned from the bathroom, Emily, still shaken from her nightmare, had asked him sheepishly if he'd mind cuddling with her, which he had absolutely not. She had snuggled up to him and he had happily held her in his arms. They had both fallen asleep very quickly.

Now, several hours later, Emily's head was still lying on his chest, her left leg was now thrown over one of his and her left arm, he suddenly realized, was hugging him, her hand buried in his hair.

She breathed evenly, and Loki gave his best not to move. He deeply enjoyed just lying there, finding comfort in Emily's touch. The fact that she had never been scared of him, considering who he was, has always surprised him, but after everything he knew about her now, it meant even more to him. He knew that she didn't trust easily, and she certainly had enough reasons to be instinctively afraid of a man that was so much stronger than her, a man who was more of a monster, actually, a man who could tear her apart in mere seconds - but she wasn't. Despite of who and what he was, she had chosen to trust him of all people, and he felt an odd sensation of gratitude and pride at the thought.

He stayed in bed with Emily for a full hour until she started to stir in her sleep.

"Mhh, good morning", she mumbled sleepily and yawned.

"Good morning."

She looked up at him and seemed to realize how close they were, because she quickly sat up and glanced at him sheepishly.

"I - um - I'm sorry that I'm so clingy."

"You are not clingy."

Still looking insecure, she said, "Um - should I make breakfast?"

Loki grinned as he sat up, too. "Maybe _I_ should make breakfast."

"Hey! You don't trust my cooking skills?"

"I shall not trust you with any maids' duties as long as you cannot even do a proper curtsy."

Emily laughed. "Well, that explains why you're such a good cook, then. Your curtsy was magnificent. You would have made a great maid, little prince."

Loki cocked his head. "Again, I sense a severe lack of respect, young lady."

"I'll make up for that if you let me use your kitchen."

He yawned, stretching his arms. "I am certain that I am going to regret that, but fine. Go ahead."

When Loki returned from a refreshing shower half an hour later, he merely nodded with a sigh as he saw his suspicion confirmed. While Nolan was sitting on the floor, licking up the milk that Emily seemed to have spilled, both Emily and his kitchen were covered in flour and the countertop was cluttered with eggshells and other baking ingredients - all in all it looked more like a bomb had hit his apartment than a tiny mortal was baking whatever it was that smelled admittedly delicious.

Said tiny mortal was currently using his pan to throw a piece of dough into the air, her tongue between her teeth, her face contorted with the utmost concentration, and Loki couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.

When Emily heard him, she looked from the flying pancake to Loki - and froze. Her eyes widening and her lips parting in surprise, she  all but stared at the god who was wearing nothing but a towel that was wrapped lazily around his hips while his legs and his muscular chest were bare and his wet hair was falling onto his strong shoulders, letting a few drops of water trickle down his skin. For a second, it felt to Emily as if time was standing still.

And then the pancake landed on her hand. She cried out in surprise and pain.

"Ouch, oh fuck it - shoo, get back into the pan - damn it!"

Loki had already rushed to her side, and Emily, who just put the pan back onto the stove, turned around in surprise when he grabbed her hand.

"Did you hurt yourself?"

She opened her mouth, staring into Loki's concerned face that was framed by long, wet hair, and shook her head.

"N-no - I just - I missed the pan -"

"I noticed. You burnt yourself. Your heart is racing, darling, relax. I am already healing you."

Emily was awfully aware that her racing heart didn't have anything to do with the burn on her hand, and she bit her lip to distract herself from the sudden urge to brush the stray of wet hair out of Loki's ridiculously handsome face. Seriously, had he always been so attractive?

 _Holy shit, Emily, pull yourself together,_ she chastised herself, _that's just Loki. A half-naked, smashing Loki, but still, just Loki, your friend and nothing more._

When the stinging sensation disappeared, Emily cleared her throat. "Um, thank you."

"You are welcome", Loki smiled and looked at the stack of pancakes next to the stoves. "Oh, are those pancakes? I do like them. Though, when Stark gets them delivered, it does not look nearly as disastrous around them."

Emily forced herself to look up from the distractingly loose towel on Loki's hips and let out an embarrassed giggle.

"Yeah, sorry - it always looks like that when - when I'm cooking or baking. Don't worry, I'll clean up the mess right now - um, why don't you just - just go and have breakfast while I'm cleaning up?"

Loki smirked. "Nonsense. We will both have breakfast now."

He flicked his hand and in an instant, the kitchen looked as good as new. With another flick, the tray with pancakes was placed on the table that Emily had already set.

"Damn", Emily muttered, "I wish I could do that."

Loki winked at her and Emily blushed. When he made another hand movement, he was suddenly dressed in his usual attire, and Emily felt a mixture of regret and relief at the sight. When they sat down at the table, Loki took a deep breath.

"That does smell delicious", he admitted, and Emily grinned.

"Told you so."

They were eating in silence for a moment, until Emily looked at Loki. "Do you think Tony and the others are already gone?"

Loki shrugged. "I suppose. Why?"

"Well, I - uh - should be working, actually -"

"Didn't you tell Stark that you would not be working until you were better?"

Emily chuckled. "Well, yeah. But I _am_ better, right?"

Loki smirked. "I won't tell him if you won't. He will be gone for a few days, anyways. And I have nothing to do, either - think of all the wonderful things we could do if you were not working!"

Laughing, Emily took another bite of her pancake. "For example?"

"You could show me the beach. I could show you more defence techniques. We could show Stark how magnificent his office looks after turning everything pink in there."

 

 

* * *

 

 

Emily had decided to start with the beach, and so they spent the entire day at Long Beach, taking long walks and sitting in the sand, talking, laughing and just enjoying the view.

Loki had to admit that Midgard did have quite a few beautiful places - he would have made the midgardians build his palace at Long Beach if he'd conquered her realm, he joked - but most of all, he truly enjoyed Emily's company. Apart from the few days when Nick had been on his business trip, they had never managed to spend as much time together as they did now, and he found that he couldn't get enough of Emily - of her laughter, her voice, the way she was looking at him when he said something.

When it was already late afternoon and they sat down again, Emily buried her feet in the warm sand, her gaze lingering on the ocean, and Loki was startled to see her eyes glistening with tears.

"Are you alright?" he asked softly, and Emily blinked.

"Yes", she said, smiling. "Really", she added when Loki frowned. "You know, my grandma loved the sea and we were often visiting the beach together. Those were the happiest days of my life." She smiled sadly, her fingers touching the ring on her necklace. "I've arranged a burial at sea for her, too. We never talked about it, but I think she would have wanted it that way."

Loki nodded thoughtfully.

"I feel close to her when I'm here. But not in a sad way, you know?" She raised her shoulders. "I don't know how to explain it -"

"You feel peace", Loki said quietly, and Emily looked at him in surprise.

"Yes. That's what I mean."

For a few moments they were sitting in silence, looking at the ocean and listening to the calming sound of the rolling waves breaking on the beach and fading away again.

"Loki, I want to thank you", Emily said eventually. "Sometimes I - I kind of forget who you actually are. But - you're a prince, and a god, you're from a completely different world, and you don't have to spend your time with some random -"

"Do not end this sentence", Loki warned her softly.

"But I mean it. You don't have to take care of me and my problems, but you do it anyways, and I - I'm -"

"I do not have to do anything at all, darling. I choose to do the things I do. And I chose to be your friend."

"And I'm grateful for that", Emily whispered.

A few more minutes passed while they were both looking at the sea.

"May I ask you a question?" Loki said eventually, and Emily looked at him.

"Of course", she replied, frowning.

"You told me that you owed Nick a lot."

Emily stiffened, but didn't say anything. Loki glanced at her.

"What does that mean?"

Emily bit her lip. "He - he helped me when I was really down."

Loki shook his head. "That cannot be everything. You told me repeatedly that you would have nothing if it wasn't for Nick and that you owe him so much, and I know that you feel guilty for leaving him even though he has hurt you. What is it that he has done that makes you feel so deeply indebted to him?"

She took a breath, still avoiding Loki's gaze. "I - I can't tell you that."

Loki frowned. "Why not?"

"Because - just because."

"You do not trust me?"

"Yes!" Emily said, finally returning Loki's look, "Of course I do!"

"Why would you not tell me, then?"

Emily bit her lip again. "Because it's - it's about something I've done."

"Is this the same something that makes you think that you do not deserve anyone better than Nick? The same something that makes you doubt yourself so much that you would rather stay with this worm?"

Emily stared at the sand, and Loki clenched his fists in frustration.

"Why don't you tell me?"

"I can't", she whispered.

She was anxiously fiddling with her sleeves, chewing on her already swollen lip, and Loki could hear how fast her heartbeat had become. He eyed her carefully. What in Odin's name was she still hiding from him?

When he could see a drop of blood appear on her lip, he reached out for her hand.

"Emily, you are hurting yourself", he said softly. "Why are you so scared?"

"You'll think I'm nothing but trash", Emily whispered eventually.

Loki raised his eyebrows. "You are scared to tell me because you fear what I will think of you?"

She nodded, a tear trickling down her cheek, and Loki shook his head in disbelief.

"I already know who you are, and nothing you could ever tell me is going to change that."

"But you don't know everything about me", she whispered, "If you did, you wouldn't think so."

"You cannot possibly tell me anything that would change the way I see you."

Emily avoided his gaze and ran her hands through the sand beneath her.

"Please", Loki simply said.

She glanced at him and cleared her throat. For a minute she was silent, then, she started to speak with a very quiet voice.

"Do you remember how I told you that I had a hard time coping with - with my grandma's death?"

"Of course."

She swallowed. "I've had a _really_ hard time coping. I - I've been severely depressed, I've been hurting myself and - I've been thinking about killing myself for a very long time."

Loki froze, and he felt like his heart literally froze to ice, too.

"You wanted to end your life?" His voice was toneless.

Emily nodded slowly. "I was - I just felt so lost, so - so hollow, I didn't have anybody at all, the only person that has ever really cared for me was gone and I - I thought that there was nothing left for me. I thought there was no reason for me to stay, so - so I thought it better to go. To just end everything."

Loki watched her with consternation. His throat felt tight and his heart seemed to have stopped beating.

"Did you -" he said, his voice hoarse, but he couldn't go on, couldn't even think of what he wanted to ask her.

She looked down, ashamed, and wrapped her fingers around the sleeves of her pullover.

"Yes", she whispered, and Loki's heart almost burst from the unfamiliar feeling of dismay mixed with helplessness that was running through it at the thought of how Emily could have died years ago and he would never have known about her existence.

"Emily -" he said, his voice soft, but he didn't know what to say to her. He just took her hand, caressing it with his thumb, and she glanced at him, giving him a little smile.

"But, well, as you can see", she continued, "I didn't succeed. I guess I'm not as mortal as you think, huh?"

Loki knew that she was trying to cover up the seriousness of their conversation with this joke, but he didn't feel like laughing. Emily looked down when she met his gaze.

"When I regained my consciousness... at first I was devastated. But then - I thought that maybe there was a reason why I lived. And that my grandma would have been so disappointed in me if I'd just given up. She told me once that ever since my grandpa had died, she had been trying to live her life with even more enthusiasm, as if she wouldn't just live her own life but his as well, you know? And suddenly I thought that this is what I should be doing - enjoy life as much as I could, to honour her."

"That is a very beautiful thought", Loki said quietly.

Emily swallowed. "So I tried to do just that. I started to see a therapist, I looked for a job, and then I took all the money my grandma had left me to buy a little apartment in the city. I just wanted to have my own place to feel safe, you know?"

Loki nodded.

"It was amazing. My own place - my own home. It was so cozy and the furniture was all pink, oh god - it was great. I felt so safe there. Oh, and I had an amazing job, too, I was working for a local newspaper. It was - everything - everything was just great. I was happy." She smiled. "I thought I was over the worst. I thought I had left everything behind and that everything was going to be alright now."

For a moment, she gazed into nothingness and her smile vanished slowly.

"And then, a few years ago - I went through a really bad patch again. I lost my job and I even lost my apartment, and - everything just kind of - went wrong. I didn't have anywhere to go. The people I used to think of as my friends - well, as soon as I could have needed some help, they were gone. I even went to my parents - but my mom said she couldn't help me before I'd apologized to my dad and begged him to help me, but -" she huffed, "I'd rather die than beg this man for anything."

Loki frowned at her choice of words, especially because he could sense that she meant them. She fell silent, and Loki watched her patiently. Eventually, she continued speaking.

"I relapsed into depression, I just couldn't deal with everything that had happened. I lived in a motel for a few weeks, but I ran out of money quickly, and then - I just lived on the street."

Loki frowned. "What do you mean?"

Emily didn't look at Loki. She grabbed a fistful of sand and let it run through her fingers.

"I was homeless. I had nowhere to go and I had no more money. So I lived on the street."

Loki found Emily's explanation utterly confusing. She lived on the street? How does one live on the street? Where would one sleep, eat - live?

She shot him a quick glance and couldn't help but laugh. "You don't even know what I'm talking about, are you?"

He shook his head and Emily swallowed. "I just - I basically lived in a park - I slept there, too - and well, I searched through garbage cans outside of restaurants or supermarkets for food -"

Loki stared at her, horror-stricken.

"Don't look at me like that, please", Emily whispered, and Loki blinked a few times and cleared his throat.

"I apologize", he said, his voice strained, and Emily suddenly had tears in her eyes.

"That's not the bad part", she whispered, and Loki tried his best not to let his face betray the shock he felt at her words.

_This was not the bad part?_

"I couldn't stand to live like that - nothing to eat, nowhere to sleep - I was - I was really desperate. I started to think about killing myself again. And then, one day - I met a girl who - well - she used to be homeless, too, but managed to live in a motel, and I asked her how she could pay for it - and - and -"

Loki struggled to follow Emily's stuttering. He found it quite hard to process what she was telling him. He was shocked to hear that she had been forced to live in such poor circumstances, but why had she been scared of his reaction? Why should he think badly of her now? And why did she tell him about a stranger she had met?

"And when she told me - well, at first I was shocked, but I was also really - really lost back then, I just didn't know what to do next - so I went with her. Okay?"

Loki shook his head. "I do not have the faintest idea of what you are trying to say, little one."

Emily took a deep breath. "I went hooking, Loki!"

He could see how hard it had been for her to tell him that, but unfortunately, he had no idea what she meant. She could clearly see the confusion in his face and shut her eyes.

"I slept with men and took money for it", she whispered.

Loki finally understood. "You became a bedmaid?"

Emily laughed out bitterly. "That's a nice way to put it. I was a - a whore, I -"

Loki looked at her, frowning. "Is _that_ what you were afraid to tell me?"

She stared at him. "Yes?"

He shook his head and squeezed her hand. He was shocked by her relevation, yes, he was shattered, actually, but it was not for the reason Emily obviously had expected.

"Emily", he said gently, "I am overcome by grief to hear what you have gone through. I wish I could have spared you from what you have endured. But I am even farer away from thinking badly of you than before. You have done everything you could to stay alive, and I am impressed by your fortitude."

Emily looked at him as if he had just lost his mind. "I - you - what?"

"Did you truly think I would condemn you?"

"You are not - disgusted?"

"Of what?"

She stared at him in disbelief. "Of - of me, I - I was a whore!"

A look of distaste crossed his face, and for a second, Emily's heart ached. There it was. Now he had finally understood what she had just told him, now he wouldn't even want to speak to her anymore - what kind of man, what kind of _prince_ would want to have anything to do with a common whore? She had to look away from him, she couldn't stand to see his beautiful face with this look of disgust on it, she couldn't stand looking into his eyes, knowing very well what he was thinking about her right now.

"Please do not call yourself that", Loki said quietly, and when Emily realized that it was only the word that had repulsed him, she looked back at him, in disbelief again.

"I am not pleased to hear of your way to earn money", Loki continued, "But that is just because I can feel how much it troubles you. You did not do it of your own volition. You did not enjoy the times you spent with these men as one should enjoy such intimacies, did you?"

Emily shook her head slowly, tears welling up in her eyes, and Loki nodded.

"That is what repulses me. The thought of you doing something so intimately against your own will. It couldn't have been easy for you."

She shook her head again, not able to say a word. Her throat felt tight and she feared that it might burst into a crying fit soon, and she also feared that she might not be able to stop again once she'd started to cry.

"It pains me to know that you have been so desperate, little one." Loki looked at her, but she avoided his gaze. "Look at me, darling."

Emily pressed her lips together and raised her eyes to meet his, and when she saw the affection in his expression, she swallowed.

"You're not - you don't think poorly of me because of what I've done?"

Loki shook his head, irritated by her settled conviction of being judged by him. "I am beginning to think that _you_ think poorly of _me_ \- why would you assume that I would judge you for this?"

The girl took a deep breath. "You're a prince", she mumbled.

Loki nodded. "I know that."

"And you're a god."

"I know that, too."

Emily swallowed. "Well, I didn't think - I mean, most people don't really think much of - of -"

" - bedmaids."

Emily huffed nervously. "Bedmaids, yes. And I thought that you - as - what you are - would certainly not -"

Loki interrupted her. "Emily, there are bedmaids on Asgard, too, and I myself have visited some of them regularly when I was younger. Why would I judge an occupation I have made use of myself?"

"You'd be surprised", Emily mumbled, all too familiar with men who regularly employed a prostitute's service while judging her at the same time.

"Well, I do not", Loki stated, "As I said, I am simply saddened that you were forced to do something you would not have done under normal circumstances."

Emily shook her head slowly, baffled at his reaction, and Loki was confused when he saw tears streaming down her face.

"Why are you crying?"

"I'm sorry", she said in a tearful voice, "I was so scared - I thought - I thought you wouldn't even want to - to see me anymore -"

Loki wrapped an arm around her and pulled her against his chest. "Never think such nonsense again."

Emily slumped against him and finally let go of her tears, and Loki stroked her back soothingly. For a mortal of ridiculous 28 years, Emily had certainly gone through a lot, he thought.

He suddenly remembered why she had told him about this chapter of her life in the first place, and he waited until she had calmed down and wriggled out of his embrace.

"Where is Nick in all of this?" he asked then, and Emily pressed her lips together as she grabbed another fistful of sand.

"One day, he came to - to - well, to use my services." She fell silent, gazing into space. "But before we could even start, he suddenly asked me if I was alright - I said yes, but he didn't buy it. He said that I looked sad and that he didn't want to do anything I didn't truly want myself, and that I deserved better."

Loki was surprised at this unexpected kindness of the man, but he didn't say anything.

"I was really - finished back then. I broke down when he said all these nice things, and he was really sweet - then he offered me to live at his place for a while until I could get back on my feet." She breathed in deeply. "I accepted his offer and went along with him. He was so kind, so sweet back then - no man had ever been so nice to me." She looked down on her sandy hands and started to fiddle with her sleeves again. "I fell head over heels in love with him."

Well, Loki thought, that wasn't surprising - he was the only one she'd had back then, the only one who was there to spend her some of the solace she had so desperately needed.

"One day he told me that he'd already fallen for me the first time he'd seen me", she continued, "and for a while, I thought that I was living some kind of pretty-woman-fairytale. Oh, that's a movie - never mind. I couldn't believe my luck, anyways."

She hesitated and Loki just watched her without saying a word.

"It started really slowly, then", she said, her voice feeble, "I noticed that he became angry really quickly, but I didn't give much weight to it. I just - tried to avoid it and - and did everything to keep him in a good mood. Then one day - I just came home from grocery shopping and I met our neighbour on the street. I was carrying two heavy shopping bags and he offered to help me - Nick was already home and - he - he lost it. As soon as our neighbour was gone, he - he slapped me and he yelled at me - he said he should have known that he couldn't trust me and that I was just a worthless whore -"

Her voice broke and Loki felt a wave of blind rage flow through him. It was a pity he had spared the mortal - he should have killed him as painfully as possible.

"But when he'd calmed down, he was so sorry - he apologized, he begged me to forgive him, he said that he'd never hurt me again - and that he'd just snapped because he was so scared to lose me. He promised that it would never happen again, and I believed him."

She stared at a small stone that she had found in the sand and inhaled deeply.

"But it happened again, and again, and it got worse. But he always apologized and - and he always promised that this was the last time, and that he loved me, and I kept thinking that - that if I could just change myself, if I could just be good enough to make him happy - if I just worked hard enough to become a person who doesn't _deserve_ to be beaten, maybe he would stop -"

Emily shook her head, tears rolling down her face. Loki offered her his hand, not sure if she'd like to be touched right now, but she gave him a weak smile and took it. Her hand was as cold as ice, and Loki stroked gently over it. She cleared her throat and continued to speak.

"I'd been looking for a job the whole time because I didn't want to live off his money - but it took a lot of time until I've finally found one. That was the one at the university that I told you about. I thought Nick would be happy about it, but when I told him that I would be working for a professor, he freaked out." Emily huffed, "That guy was twice my age and married - there was nothing going on between us at all. But Nick didn't believe me. Things got - really bad then. In the end, I quit. I couldn't stand it anymore."

 _Pressing her into quitting her job to make her even more dependent,_ Loki thought bitterly, _That was certainly clever._

But he didn't say anything, he just continued to caress her hand.

"But just sitting at home, doing nothing all day - it was driving me mad. When I realized that I was about to relapse into depression again, I started to look for a new job. And then Tony hired me." She hesitated and glanced at Loki. "And now I'm here."

Loki smiled at her. "And now you are here", he repeated softly. Then he frowned. "Nick wanted you to quit this job, too."

Emily nodded.

"But you refused to. Why?"

She blushed. "I didn't want to lose you", she murmured.

Loki's face lit up and a strange, warm feeling settled in his chest. "You stayed because of _me?_ "

Emily looked up at him. "Of course. Loki, you're - you're the best thing that's ever happened to me. I couldn't stand the thought of losing you."

He returned her look. "You will never lose me, little one."

For a few seconds, their eyes locked.

Loki wanted nothing more than to brush his lips against Emily's and make her forget all of her fears and all of her troubles in a tender, loving kiss, he wanted to show her how much she meant to him and that he would never, never leave her, never hurt her and never let her get hurt again - but _no Loki, pull yourself together, you can't kiss her, especially not now, you can't take advantage of her in such a weak moment, in Odin's name, don't look at her like this, you'll ruin everything if you do this now -_

In the very same moment, Emily seemed to get lost in Loki's eyes - these beautiful, green eyes full of tenderness and warmth - and she couldn't help but let her gaze wander to his lips - these soft, red lips - and she felt the overwhelming need to lean over and kiss him, kiss him and never let him go again - _my god, Emily, get ahold of yourself, you can't kiss Loki, after everything you've just told him he'd probably even return the kiss out of pity, and tomorrow he'd tell you that he didn't mean it, that he doesn't see you in this way, and seriously, why would a god ever see somebody like you in this way?_

They broke their eye contact at the very same second, and for a moment, they just sat in silence, looking at the sea.

Eventually, Emily cleared her throat. "Well", she said, "Now you know everything."

"I am glad that I do", Loki replied, "Thank you."

She hesitated. "See, that's what I mean when I say that I would be nothing without Nick." She swallowed. "I have no idea where I'd be without him. Probably still in this motel -" With a deep breath, she said, "I owe him."

Loki shook his head. "One good deed does not allow him to do so many wrong ones, and neither loyalty nor love are things that you earn once and keep forever. You do not owe him anything after everything that he has put you through."

Emily didn't reply.

"You are a free person, Emily. You can do whatever you want to do, and you can live wherever you want to live. You do not owe anybody anything at all, except for yourself."

She frowned. "Myself?"

"Yourself. You are the most important person in your life, and you have been neglecting yourself long enough. It is time for you to do the things that _you_ want. The question is, what _is_ it that you want?"

Emily bit her lip and looked back at the ocean, playing with her grandmother's ring on her necklace.

"I want to stay with you", she said quietly after a long moment, "And I want to keep my job at the Tower. And I don't want to see or speak to Nick again, ever."

Loki smiled at her, squeezing her hand proudly. "Three very wise decisions, little one."

Emily glanced at him and couldn't help but return his smile. She should be frightened, she thought, she should be terrified of the many obstacles she was going to face in the following weeks, she should feel lost - but somehow, when she looked into these kind, green eyes, she didn't feel lost at all. She felt as if she had finally been found and, even more importantly, as if she was finally on her way to find herself.

 

 

 


	26. Just A Little Complication

It was the next day when Loki decided that he couldn't take the exhausting tension anymore that had been building up inside of him ever since he had found Emily battered, bruised and crying, and that had only become worse when he had finally faced the one person responsible for her misery only to be forced to spare his worthless life.

When he and Emily had finished their breakfast, Loki decided to go into the training room to vent his anger while Emily seemed to be quite content with staying in his chambers with a book.

It took Loki a few hours until he finally didn't feel as if he was about to explode anymore. He could have used a partner, but with Thor still on Asgard and the other Avengers on missions, he had to practice alone. It was a blessing, really, that he had asgardian equipment now - the midgardian stuff wouldn't have had a chance to survive the pent up aggression inside of him.

It was past lunchtime when he was on his way back to his apartment.

When he stepped out of the elevator on his floor, he froze. He could clearly hear loud, booming noises of what was undoubtedly some kind of fight going on inside of his chambers. And those screams - was that a male voice? When he heard Emily's voice yell something, his heart skipped a beat and he decided to take a shortcut to his rooms. He teleported right into his living room, both of his daggers already in his hands and ready to save Emily from whatever it was that dared to threaten her.

As he appeared in the middle of his living room, however, he was utterly confused by the scenery in front of him.

Emily was alone, there was nobody attacking her at all, and instead of fighting for her life she was standing in his once again chaotic kitchen, wiggling her hips, shaking her head and yelling pointless words into a whisk that she was holding up in front of her mouth. The infernal noise - apart from Emily's yelling - seemed to come from a small technical gadget that was lying on the kitchen's countertop.

When Emily saw Loki standing only a few feet away from her, she squeaked and stopped her movements, let the whisk fall down and then burst into laughter.

"Damn it, I didn't hear you coming! Oh god, why do you always have to catch me when I do embarrassing things?"

Loki stared at her.

"What is this noise?" he asked with furrowed brows, and Emily, who couldn't even hear what he'd said, quickly grabbed the ipod and turned it off.

"Much better", he sighed, "What was that? Why were you screaming? By the norns, Emily, I thought you were being attacked -"

For a second, Emily blinked at him in confusion. When she saw the daggers in his hands, she laughed out loud.

"You thought I was attacked? I was just singing along! That was _Led Zeppelin!_ You're not a fan of some good old heavy metal, huh?"

Loki raised an eyebrow. "I did not understand enough of your words to reply to your question."

The girl smirked. "That's a band. Um - a musical group?"

Loki stared at her. " _That_ was not music."

"Come on! You really didn't like that?"

The god huffed. "I teleported in here because I thought you in danger when I heard the noise."

Emily couldn't stifle her laughter. "That's actually so sweet of you that I might even forgive you for insulting _Led Zeppelin_. Well, at least Tony has a certain taste in music, there's some really good stuff on his old ipod. I hope he doesn't mind that I borrowed it."

Loki groaned. "I do remember some of the noises Stark made me listen to when I was forced to spend time with him. Please do not tell me that you share a taste in what you mortals call music with him of all people."

"Hell yeah! You should have seen me when I was a teenager. I was only wearing black clothes, I had my hair dyed green, got my lip pierced and -" When she saw Loki's raised eyebrows, Emily giggled. "I told you my grandma had a difficult time with me as a teenager."

"It certainly sounds difficult", Loki agreed with a small smirk.

" _Child, what have you done to your beautiful hair! Oh dear, please tell me that this is not a permanent colour!_ " Emily imitated a high voice and smiled tenderly. "But after a few days, she said that she'd grown to like it. _'A special colour for a special girl'_ , she said." Emily laughed. "As for my music - yeah, you two would have certainly gotten along."

"She did prefer actual music, too, then?"

Emily, who had approached Loki while she was talking, slapped his chest and then suddenly gave him a cheeky smirk. "You can put these daggers away now, my hero. I promise that Robert Plant is not going to attack us in here."

Loki looked at his hands that were indeed still holding his daggers, and he huffed, but let them vanish.

"What did you do to rebel as a teenager?" Emily asked curiously, "You know, with your hair and the pale skin and everything - I bet you would have looked great with some black eyeliner and a rivet choker."

"That does not sound very appealing." He narrowed his eyes at her. "Cease looking at me as if you planned - an attire transfiguration or something."

The girl giggled. "Seriously, I could turn you into a sexy rockstar in a matter of minutes. You could even keep your leather pants on. Oh, how the sixteen year old Emily would have swooned over you!"

Loki cocked his head and smirked smugly. "Is that so?"

Emily blushed and decided to change the topic. "Now, seriously, didn't you do anything to rebel against your parents when you were younger?"

"You mean like, what, giving birth to a horse?"

She burst into laughter. "Okay, you win."

Loki bowed mockingly. Then he frowned as he looked around in the kitchen.

"It looks as if you were trying to cook something."

Emily crossed her arms. "I did not only _try_ to cook, I _did_ cook."

Loki glanced at the oven. "What is this?"

"It's called lasagne. Don't look at me like that, you're going to like it!"

"Your obvious lack of taste in music does not give me any reason to trust you when it comes to recommendations of any kind."

Emily huffed. "So you didn't like pizza and cappuccino, either, huh? And what about my glorious pancakes?"

"Even a broken clock is right twice a day", Loki repeated something Tony had once said to him and smirked.

The girl stuck out her tongue. "I will accept your apology after you've tasted my spectacular lasagne. It'll take a few more minutes, though. Can you, um, do your thing in the kitchen?"

Loki chuckled. "You've become spoiled."

"Ha! That is rich coming from a prince who had to teach himself how to cook after thousands of years of living in a palace full of kitchen maids!"

"Touché", Loki admitted and waved his hand, letting the chaos disappear in a split second.

Emily beamed. "Thank you."

When she put some of the lasagne on his plate a few minutes later, she eyed him expectingly until he finally picked up a chunk of it with his fork. She watched him as he was chewing on it while he gave his best to keep a blank pokerface, even though it had not taken him more than a split second to realize that Emily's dish was most certainly exceedingly delicious.

"So?" Emily said eventually, and Loki nodded graciously.

"It is edible."

Emily smirked. "Ha. You like it. Told you so."

Loki rolled his eyes. "Fine. I like it. But your taste in music is still horrible."

"If you say so", Emily grinned, and started to eat, too. "How was your training?"

"Very good. We need to continue yours, too."

Emily nodded. "Maybe this evening? I was thinking about going for a shopping trip after lunch, I - well, I still need a new mobile phone." She looked at her plate in embarrassment.

But Loki, who had bought his own phone just a while ago, suddenly raised his chin.

"I am familiar with the place where midgardians buy mobile phones", he told her, the pride of his impressive knowledge about the purchase of midgardian technology obvious on his face, and Emily had to suppress a smirk.

"Really? Do you want to come with me?"

Loki nodded. "I will."

Emily impaled a piece of zucchini on her fork, smiling happily at Loki. She wouldn't have asked Loki for it, but she had actually hoped that he'd accompany her into the mall. She hadn't left the tower for the last days, and even though Loki had assured her that he'd taken care of Nick, she had still felt quite anxious at the thought of going out alone. Besides - she had enjoyed spending so much time with Loki lately. When she watched Loki chew his lasagne with a look of utter delight on his face, she felt a wave of affection wash over her. After telling him about her past yesterday, an immense weight had been lifted from her mind. She had never expected Loki to react the way he had. The only person that had ever known about her being a former prostitute had been Nick, obviously, and he had never missed an opportunity to remind her of this particular part of her past. For the last years she had been convinced that nobody would ever accept her as who she really was, and to finally tell somebody about everything and learn that he didn't give a damn about this chapter of her life and that he didn't think any less of her now; that he was still more than willing to be her friend and that her confession had not changed the way he was treating her in the slightest, made her feel like she was finally able to take a deep breath for the first time after years and years of being smothered by the many layers of her past.

 

 

* * *

 

 

"They're going to pick up Bruce and Tasha in Michigan tomorrow and come back to the tower afterwards", Emily told Loki later, still looking at her new phone. She sighed. "I guess my break is over, then."

Loki raised his shoulders. "I am sure Stark would give you a few more days if you need it."

Emily shook her head. "Nah, I'm fine." With a smirk she added, "I had an amazing nurse."

The god huffed. "You could have at least called me a doctor."

"I could have. But I made my choice."

"Obviously."

"I think Tony missed you", Emily smiled, "He asked me to say hello to you."

"Tell him that you are not an owl."

Emily giggled in astonishment. "Did you do your homework and read _Harry Potter?_ "

Loki shook his head. "No, not yet, but that is what Tony said when you asked him to say hello to me a while ago. What does it have to do with these books?"

She smirked. "In _Harry Potter_ , the magical community uses owls to send letters to each other."

"Ah, that is interesting. Odin prefers ravens for that purpose."

Emily frowned. "Seriously?"

Loki shrugged. "Yes. So, did their mission go well?"

"I think so." She yawned. "I'm glad that Tasha is coming back, too. I miss her."

"I cannot say the same."

Emily slapped Loki's chest. "Come on. You two were getting along just fine when you were training partners, weren't you? Tasha said that she was pleasantly surprised about the extent of your magical abilities."

Loki huffed. "She called it Voodoo."

When Emily looked back at her new phone, still trying to change the settings, Loki frowned.

"Will Nick be able to contact you on this phone?"

She shook her head. "I have a new number. I'm pretty sure that he's written me on facebook and twitter, but I haven't logged in there yet."

Loki eyed her. "If he threatens you in any way, will you let me know?"

"He won't", Emily muttered, "He'll just remind me that I'm nothing without him, that he never expected me to be so ungrateful and that he should have known that I'm going to leave him for you to sleep my way up." She suddenly looked at Loki with a frown. "Wow, is it getting cold in here?"

Loki closed his eyes to calm himself down. It was not an effort at all for him to keep his asgardian form; he'd been doing it all his life without even realizing it, after all, but he had noticed that his body seemed to at least partly switch into his true form when he was trying to suffocate certain feelings like the anger he'd just felt rising inside of him at Emily's words. Sometimes his body-heat dropped heavily and sometimes there were even certain jotun features suddenly becoming visible.

He took a deep breath. The last thing he needed right now was to let Emily see his monstrous red eyes or hints of his disgusting true skin colour.

"Are you alright?" he heard her ask, and he nodded.

"I'm fine." He opened his eyes and tried to relax. "Let me know if he writes you anything like that. I might have to pay him a visit, then. Anyways", he added, "How about some training now?"

Emily nodded, glad about the change of subject. "Okay. But when we're done, it's time for your lesson." She smirked. "We have to continue watching _The Lord of the Rings._ "

"If you do well enough to earn yourself a reward, yes", Loki teased her, and before Emily could say another word he took her hand and teleported them into the training room.

 

 

* * *

 

  
Loki and Emily were sitting in the common room the next day, drinking a cappuccino while Loki was teasing her mercilessly with her former crush on Legolas.

"He is a _blonde_ ", Loki said with mocking disgust, "and he braided his _hair_."

Emily's cheeks were red, both from slight embarrassment and constant laughter. "God, I should never have told you that! I was fifteen!"

"That is neither an apology for swooning over a blonde elf nor for having green hair."

Emily smirked. "I thought you liked green."

Loki chuckled. "Not as a hair colour, little one."

When Tony's voice came from the door, they both turned around.

"You're discussing hair colours? Padmé, I thought Ani was the one who'd deprave you, not the other way around."

Emily smirked. "Hey, Tony. Too late to warn him of my influence now, I guess."

"Hello, Kenobi", Loki said nonchalantly, and Tony grinned.

"You call me Kenobi, Ani? You do know that I'm your teacher, then?"

Loki shrugged. "I do know that I am going to kill you."

Tony dropped his smile in an instant while Emily gave her best to stifle her laughter.

"Well, touché. Anyways, I've got to talk to you. Um, like, one-on-one. Could you come to my office? And leave your lightsaber behind", Tony added with narrowed eyes.

Again, Loki shrugged. "I'm already there."

And he was gone.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Great. Would it kill him to just go upstairs with me like everybody else?"

Emily grinned. "Possibly."

"You're okay, kiddo?" Tony suddenly said with a frown, and Emily shrugged.

"Sure. More than okay. Loki healed me, I'm as good as new."

Tony opened his mouth, as if to say something, but then closed it again. He still eyed her thoughtfully, and Emily cocked her head.

"Is everything alright? You're - you're not mad that I didn't start working sooner, are you? I just - uh -"

"No, not at all", Tony hurried to say, "You deserved a break more than anyone else. Besides me, perhaps. Anyways, I'm gonna go before your best buddy is going to make havoc of my office. Take care, huh?"

Emily frowned. "You look worried. Is something wrong?"

Tony sighed. "Just a - a little - complication. Frosty and I are going to take care of it, don't worry."

"What does Loki have to do with it?"

He shook his head. "Don't worry, it'll be fine. Nothing serious. I just need his - um - help with something."

Emily still looked suspicious. "Okay. Well - I'll just return to work then, right? Should I start with the latest mission reports?"

"Nah, there's no rush. You know what, just take another day off. There's not much to do today. I'll see you tomorrow for our usual meeting in the morning, okay?"

"Sure." With a smirk, Emily added, "Say hello to Loki from me, Hedwig."

 

 

* * *

 

 

When Tony arrived in his office, Loki was sitting in his armchair, manspreading as much as possible and playing with a little Iron Man action figure.

"Why do they not make little Loki dolls? I would enjoy playing with myself."

Tony rolled his eyes. "That's not a doll, it's an action figure. Anyways; we have a problem, buddy."

Loki narrowed his eyes at him. "You know, I do miss the times when you were calling me Lucifer or Vader to emphasize my being the villain of your little group. _Buddy_ does not exactly meet my requirements of an appropriately evil nickname."

Tony watched him cautiously. "It's serious, Loki."

Loki's eyebrow rose when he heard his name.

"I wanted to talk to you first, that's why I left the quinjet to get here faster, but the others should be here any minute", Tony went on, "Listen - Fury called us on our way home. He was about to send a unit of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents here, but I could talk him out of that. I've played the innocent, I didn't tell him that I know what's happened and told him that I wanted to talk to you first."

When he saw Loki's questioning gaze, he sighed and sat down on his desk in front of Loki.

"Nick has contacted S.H.I.E.L.D. to report your assault to them."

Loki snorted. "You cannot be serious."

"I'm dead serious. That son of a bitch claims that he came to visit his girlfriend and that you attacked him out of nowhere."

The god shrugged. "That is both ignoble and ludicrous, but -"

"S.H.I.E.L.D. considers your attack to be a severe violation of the conditions of your stay here on Earth."

Again, Loki snorted. "I did not even murder him, I merely -"

Tony sighed. "He has two broken ribs and his neck and throat are bruised heavily."

"He deserved much more."

"Yeah, that's why I'm talking to you right now. I thought it wiser if you talked to Emily alone. She has to explain to S.H.I.E.L.D. why -"

"No."

Tony stared at Loki. "No? What do you mean, no?"

Loki raised his shoulders. "I mean no. Emily will not explain anything to S.H.I.E.L.D. It was an emotional drain for her to tell me about her life with Nick, and I will not have her repeat her purely personal matters to those fools."

For a second, Tony was torn between amazement at Loki's unexpected empathy and frustration.

"Well, I get that, but - look, I suppose that's exactly what that nickroach is hoping for; that Emily is not going to testify against him, and you can't let him play that card. I mean, I know and you know that you had a damn good reason for beating the shit out of that guy, but if you don't tell Fury, he'll be thinking that you nailed the bastard onto the wall just for fun."

Loki raised his shoulders nonchalantly. "Then let him think that."

Tony threw his hands in the air. "He demands your return to Asgard!"

Loki frowned. He hadn't expected this clear overreaction.

"Ah, you finally got it?"

Tony had poured himself a whiskey and paced his office now, sipping on his glass from time to time.

"Well, I admit that this is an unpleasant turn of events."

"Do you, now? You know damn well that Fury has always been waiting for an opportunity to send you back to your little cloud up there; he's probably started planning your farewell party the very second Nick has set a foot in his office."

Loki shook his head. "It will not come to that."

Tony sighed. "That bastard of an ex-boyfriend has an impressive medical report of his injuries, and with you being responsible for them... The agreement between S.H.I.E.L.D. and Odin says that you will be returned to Asgard immediately if you defy any of the rules, and breaking an innocent man's ribs -"

The god rose from his armchair and shot Tony a glare that would have made every average man tremble.

" _Innocent?_ What I have done to him was nothing compared to what he deserves!"

"Goddamn it, Loki, _I know that_ , but S.H.I.E.L.D. needs to know it, too! Don't you think Emily would want to sort things out for your sake?"

"Of course she would!" Loki exclaimed, "She would probably even feel guilty for causing me trouble! But what she needs right now is to _stop_ feeling guilty because of that wretched being and to stop worrying or even thinking about him! I will take care of this problem myself -"

Tony shook his head. "I don't see how you're going to do that without explaining the whole situation to Fury. Maybe you could just tell him about it yourself, without involving Emily."

Loki huffed. "Yes, I am sure she would appreciate that."

At this moment, Clint, Bruce and Steve entered Tony's office. Bruce looked quite calm, Clint just tired, but Steve fumed with anger.

"What the hell were you thinking!"

"Language, Captain!" Tony and Clint both said, and Steve shot them an angry glare.

"It's really not the time for your jokes!" He pointed at Loki. "I've started to trust you, I've taken a stand for you, and you walk around almost killing an innocent man because you have a thing for his girlfriend?"

"Cap -" Tony started, but Loki interrupted him.

"Always quick with convictions as long as the convicted person is not an old friend of yours, right?" he said casually, and Steve let out a jeering chuckle.

"Oh, so there is a good reason you almost killed the guy?"

Loki leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. "As you all know, I am under constant surveillance. The Allfather knows about every step and misstep that I take. My so called assault on that _poor boy_ has been days ago - do you not think that Odin would have taken action by now if he had witnessed me doing something inappropriate?"

The four men stared at Loki. They clearly hadn't thought of that.

"Fair point", Clint finally said with a frown and Tony nodded approvingly, but Steve shook his head.

"I have no idea what you guys up there think appropriate or not, but to steal another man's girl and beat the man up afterwards is not considered appropriate or honourable on Earth!"

Loki narrowed his eyes at him. "Watch your tongue, soldier. You know nothing of my reasons or my honour."

Bruce cleared his throat. He hadn't said a word yet, he had only watched the men talking, but now he took off his glasses and furrowed his brows as he looked at Loki.

"Tony said that Emily lives with you now."

Loki looked at him in surprise. "That is correct."

"Does she know about your encounter with her boyfriend?"

"He is not her boyfriend anymore. And yes, she does know about it."

Bruce put his glasses on again. "I think quite much of Emily. If she's staying with Loki even though she knows what he's done to her ex-boyfriend, I think it's safe to assume that there has been something going on that we don't know about."

Loki eyed Bruce cautiously. He hadn't expected him of all people to side with him.

"I'd like to hear what's going on, then!" Steve stated angrily. "And why is Emily not here, anyways? Doesn't this concern her, too?"

Tony took a gulp of whiskey and sighed. "Cap, there's something you should -"

"Stark!" Loki said sharply, and before Tony could react, Bruce spoke out again.

"Tony, you told Director Fury that we'd discuss the issue until tomorrow, right?"

"Right."

Bruce nodded. "There's still time, then. Maybe we should all try to calm down a little and look for a solution we all can live with."

"Preferably here on Earth", Loki murmured.

Tony quickly emptied his glass to hold back an inappropiate remark. The situation was quite serious - Fury had been determined to lock Loki up until he could be sent back to Asgard and it had been quite difficult to talk him into giving Tony at least a day to straighten things out, and Tony knew that Loki's nerves were raw, so all in all it really wasn't the time for his jokes. But as frustrating as the situation was, Tony hadn't  missed the fact that Loki of all people had just breathed the wish to stay here on what he'd used to to call "a pathetic excuse for a planet", and he'd also realized that Loki had just called his once accursed place of exile Earth instead of Midgard for the very first time without even noticing it himself.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, roo2010, for the wonderful coinage 'Nickroach' :D


	27. Thank You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry for the delay, my new semester has started last week and I've been struggling to find time to write. But I'll give my best to keep updating as often as possible :)  
> I'm also struggling to breathe because it's just one more day until Infinity War - let's hope that Marvel doesn't break our hearts. If Loki dies, we will all go Korg and call for a revolution, sisters! (and brothers? Are there any male readers among us?)  
> I hope you like the chapter!

An hour later, Loki was exasperated, Tony was drunk, Steve was frustrated, Clint was sleeping on his chair and Bruce was massaging his temples to calm himself down.

Tony and Steve still insisted on calling Emily into the office while Loki insisted on killing everyone who would try to involve her in this, which did not calm Steve down in the slightest. Bruce and Clint agreed with Loki - bar the threat of murder - and they had more or less been bickering like stubborn siblings for the past hour without finding anything close to a solution. At some point, they had finally agreed to wait for Natasha until they'd make a decision.

"If Natasha thinks it wisest to talk to the girl, I will talk to her personally", Steve stated eventually, "I want to hear what she's been thinking, messing around with Loki after -"

"I have told you before and I will tell you again, there is no _'messing around with Loki'_ going on", Loki hissed, and Steve crossed his arms and huffed.

"Sure, that's why she lives with you, and that's why you broke the guy's ribs when he wanted to visit her."

Bruce growled. "God, I think I'm having a déjà vu."

"Maybe that's because we've been at this point of the discussion five times already", Clint mumbled sleepily without even lifting his head from the table it was resting on.

Tony was about to say something when the door was pushed open with force. They all turned around and frowned when Director Fury entered the room. Loki rolled his eyes at the sight of the one-eyed man.

"Hello, gentlemen - and Loki", Fury said with poorly hidden spitefulness in his expression.

"I wasn't aware that it's already tomorrow", Tony stated with furrowed brows.

Fury shot him an annoyed glare. "I said I would not take action until tomorrow, but I never said I wouldn't come here."

"And what a pleasure it is to see you", Loki assured him in an almost bored tone.

"I wouldn't want to say anything wrong if I were you", Fury replied, "Though I doubt that your situation could become any worse than it already is."

"Well, thank god you're not being dramatic", Tony scoffed.

"Listen, I'm really trying to be cooperative here. I could've had your new best friend chained and locked up an hour ago."

Loki sneered. "No, you could not."

Before Fury could reply to that, the door opened again and Natasha walked in - followed by Emily. Emily's cheeks were slightly red and she looked a bit flustered, but determined. Loki frowned when he met her gaze, and he was about to ask her what in Odin's name she was doing here when Natasha cleared her throat.

"Director Fury. I thought you weren't going to come until tomorrow."

"Nice to see you too, Agent Romanoff."

Natasha narrowed her eyes. "I just thought that we were going to discuss things in private first." She glanced at Emily, who returned her look with a short nod, and shrugged. "What did we miss?"

Tony sighed. "Nothing except for a little muscle flexing. Emily - I'm surprised to see you here."

Emily swallowed. "Tasha - I mean, Agent Romanoff - thought it best if I explained the - the situation."

Loki noticed how Emily was fiddling with the sleeves of her pullover, which was something that she only did when she was tense, and he felt a wave of anger wash over him. The damn russian had no idea of what she was doing to Emily. Loki knew her well enough to understand how uncomfortable it would make her if she had to talk about her abusive ex-boyfriend in front of not only everybody she worked with, but Fury, too; a man she barely knew and whom she, as he knew, utterly disliked. Loki had had a good reason for wanting to keep her out of this. He shot Natasha an annoyed look, but she just winked at him, which enraged him even further.

Fury crossed his arms. "With all due respect, Ms Bloomfield, but I doubt that there is anything you could say to explain the situation."

Emily furrowed her brows. "With all due respect, Director Fury", she said, her voice soft, but firm, "But I think it would be reasonable to listen to my explanation before you judge it."

Tony choked on his whiskey and spluttered, and the corners of Loki's lips twitched approvingly. Fury on the other hand was less amused.

"I don't think -"

"Hell, Fury", Natasha suddenly sighed, "I understand that you're pissed off, and I'm sorry I didn't tell you that I've beaten that _maslobojtschik_ up, but could you just listen to us for a moment?"

Everybody in the room, expect for Emily, stared at her. She raised her eyebrows.

"What, you hadn't come to that part of the story yet?"

Fury eyed her suspiciously. "I wasn't aware that you've injured the guy, too."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "I didn't _'injure him, too'_. I was the very one who's given him the beating that made him crawl to you for help."

There was a moment of silence before Fury shook his head. "What are you talking about? The assaulted person told me that Loki has been responsible for his injuries."

Natasha actually laughed out. "Yeah, I heard about that." She shot Emily an amused look. "Can you believe the guy?"

"Don't get me started. I can't believe I've spent two years of my life with him", Emily replied, rolling her eyes casually, and both women chuckled.

The men in the office watched them as if they had suddenly grown horns.

Fury cleared his throat. "Ms Bloomfield, I would appreciate your explanation now."

 _So do I_ , Loki thought, still eyeing Emily with utter confusion.

Emily shrugged. "It's not that exciting, actually. I broke up with Nick a week ago, and he didn't want to accept that it's over. He came here a few times to talk to me and he just wouldn't leave me alone. When he stopped by a few days ago - well, we had a quite heated debate. When he realized that I wasn't going to come back with him willingly, he grabbed my arm and tried to drag me with him -"

Natasha stepped in. "I walked into the hall at this moment and came to Emily's help." She rolled her eyes. "I didn't know that it was her boyfriend, obviously; I just saw a stranger who harassed Emily and wanted to intervene. It was an accident, actually."

"Accident?" Fury repeated in disbelief, "Agent, the guy has two broken ribs -"

She shrugged. "I didn't mean to break his ribs, but you know me, once I've got it going -"

Fury still didn't look convinced. "Why should the guy lie about his attacker?"

"You know how some men are", Natasha sighed, "I guess being hit by a girl somehow wounded his precious male pride. Ask Emily, he's a real macho."

Emily nodded, rolling her eyes. "He is."

Fury glanced at Loki, who gave his best not to look as if he'd just heard this story for the first time in his life.

"But why would the man blame Loki?"

Emily cleared her throat. "Oh. That. Well, Loki and I didn't want to make it public yet, since we're working together and all, but - well, the thing is, I left Nick because of Loki. I already moved in with him, actually. I guess Nick just wanted to come back at him now."

Everybody in the room stared at Emily - especially Loki, who looked so dumbstruck that Emily would have laughed if she hadn't felt so tense.

"Don't look at me like that, honey", she said sweetly as she returned Loki's gaze, "It's time to come out with the truth."

Loki's eyebrows twitched slightly when Emily called him honey, but then he managed to smile at her. "You are right, darling." He raised his hands as if surrendering and let his gaze wander over the others' faces before he smirked. "Whan can I say. I am crazy for her, as you mortals say."

Emily couldn't hold back a snort.

Fury seemed to be lost for words for a second. Eventually, he looked at Tony. "Did you know about that?"

Tony's gaze flickered over Loki and Emily before he returned Fury's look. "Um - yeah, actually. They talked to me about their relationship to avoid - um - misunderstandings. That's why I was suspecting a reason behind Loki's attack - um, alleged attack, I mean. I wasn't aware that it was actually Natasha who's beaten the guy up, though."

"Wait a second", Fury suddenly said, "The victim claimed that you've been there, too, Stark! And that Loki only let go of him when you came to his help!"

Tony looked surprised. "Me? I've never been there. I didn't even know that the guy has been attacked until you told me."

Fury seemed uncertain. He looked at Loki again. "If that's what happened, why didn't you tell me that you were innocent right away?"

Loki raised his shoulders. "It's not like you ever asked me if I had done anything in the first place."

Steve let out a huff. It was the first sound he'd made ever since Fury had come into the office. "You already admitted that it was you who's attacked the guy before Fury came here!"

Natasha shot Loki an annoyed glare. "You did? Wanted to take all the credit, huh?"

Loki smirked. "God of lies. What can I say."

The captain shook his head angrily. "Who tells us that you're not lying now?"

"That would be me", Natasha said firmly, "Or do you think I take the blame because I've suddenly grown fond of Loki?"

Fury let out an annoyed sigh. "I don't have time for this. Stark, just show us the video of the security camera."

Tony blinked. "Uh, yeah. The - the video. I'm sorry, I zoned out for a minute. Long day. Lots of whiskey. What video?"

"The video of how I've kicked Nick's ass", Natasha replied and shot Loki a look that he, to her relief, returned with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Tony nodded with a frown. "Yeah. J.A.R.V.I.S.? Show us the video."

"Of course, Sir."

The screensaver with Iron Man fanart on Tony's huge flatscreen stopped and instead, a video from the entrance hall started to play. And then they all watched how Nick and Emily were talking to each other with furious gestures until Nick roughly grabbed Emily's arm and dragged her towards the entrance door.

Loki glanced at Emily and realized that she was chewing on her lip, her gaze glued to the floor. Without thinking twice he crossed the room and wrapped his arms around her, and Emily returned the hug gratefully. Fury shot them a highly irritated glare before he looked back at the screen just in time to see how Natasha put a stranglehold on Nick and pulled Emily out of his grip before she dashed him against the wall with a deliberate kick into his chest.

"Good job, russian", Loki couldn't help but say, and Natasha smirked at him.

"Thanks. It really does look good."

Fury didn't seem amused. "This is a serious issue, Agent. I understand the reason behind your acts, but you should have at least informed me of the situation, then I could have taken action in time. I almost got Loki arrested because of your improvidence."

Loki smirked when he heard the hint of regret in Fury's voice. He had obviously expected a much different and much more satisfying outcome from his visit.

"It could help to investigate the allegations before you get someone arrested", Natasha said reproachfully, her arms crossed, "Loki hasn't even been in town on the day I've kicked the guy's ass. You could have just checked our mission reports for Loki's whereabouts on that day."

Bruce cleared his throat. He'd understood immediately. "He's been with me, in Michigan. If you want to see my mission report -"

Fury waved his hand. "That won't be necessary. The video is more than sufficient." He sighed. "However, I don't want this to reach the public, so I'm going to pay the guy a visit and let him know that S.H.I.E.L.D. is going to take care of his medical bills. We'll also offer him some compensation for his suffering, just to make sure."

He eyed Loki, who was still holding Emily in his arms. "I'm more than capable to realize when I've made a mistake. My judgment today has been clouded. I'm still keeping my eye on you, though", he added eventually, as if he feared that he might have been too friendly.

Loki nodded. "I accept your apology. Keep your eye on me, if you so wish. With both your and Odin's eyes on me, there would finally be an entire pair of eyes watching me, then."

Emily snorted into Loki's chest and quickly tried to cover it up with a cough.

Fury shook his head. "I'm going to get back to work now. This pointless episode has cost me too much time already." He looked at Natasha. "I'd appreciate if you didn't beat any civilians up in the near future, I already spend enough time picking up after you all. And you -" he pointed at Tony, "- will keep an eye on Beauty and the Beast. I'm not very pleased with this development."

Emily wriggled out of Loki's embrace and shot Fury an angry glare. "I'm pleased enough for the both of us, thank you, Captain Hook!"

Fury turned to Emily. "You seem to forget who I am, Ms Bloomfield."

She raised her chin. "I know exactly who you are. But neither am I working for S.H.I.E.L.D. nor will I stand here and allow you to insult Loki or badmouth our relationship!"

Loki couldn't help himself. He gave Fury a smug smirk. "I advise you to listen to her. I am sure you remember what a dangerous warrioress my sweet Emily is."

Fury shot him a glare and opened his mouth, but then he just shook his head and left the office. When Natasha closed the door behind him, Emily let out a long sigh.

"God, my hands are trembling", she muttered and let herself fall into one of Tony's armchairs, running her hands through her hair as she tried to calm herself down.

"You two", Tony said admiringly, "are brilliant."

"Thank you for defending my honour, darling", Loki smirked, and Emily blushed before she stood up again to walk back to Loki.

"Loki - I'm so, so sorry for this -"

Loki shot Tony a glare that said 'Told you so' before he returned Emily's look. "There is no need to be sorry. It is not your fault."

She shook her head and looked at the ground. "Of course it is. I can't believe he did that. It's - I -"

"Do not worry, Emily. Everything is fine." Loki hesitated before he looked at Natasha and eyed her as if he was just seeing her for the first time. "Thanks to you. I - thank you."

Natasha smiled at him. "Let's not talk about it."

Steve, who had been leaning against the wall with crossed arms, took a step into the middle of the room and clenched his fists.

"Well, _I_ would like to talk about it. I know for a fact that Loki has not been in Michigan, and Natasha knows very well who Nick is, too, so I doubt that she's accidentally beaten him up - what the hell is going on here?"

Clint, who was still sitting at the meeting table, nodded. "I think I've lost the thread somewhere, too."

Emily took a deep breath. "I'm really sorry for all of this. Natasha and I wanted to let you in on our plan before Fury comes here, but then he's already been here when we arrived... and we kind of - improvised."

Steve frowned. "What plan?"

Emily hesitated. "First of all, Natasha offered to take the blame for Nick's injuries -"

"- the _credit_ for his injuries", Natasha corrected and shrugged. "I knew Fury would turn his blind eye to the assault as long as Loki wasn't involved."

"So Loki _was_ the one who attacked Nick", Steve exclaimed, "He knows very well how he looks like, though, there's no way it could have been an accident!"

Emily looked at Steve. "It wasn't an accident. Natasha and I've made up the story that we just told Fury because I didn't want S.H.I.E.L.D. to know so much about - about my personal life. The truth is -" She swallowed. She didn't want to make a dramatic break, but this - this was much harder than she'd ever imagined it to be. When she looked up, she caught Loki's concerned gaze and gave him a reassuring smile before she continued with a strained voice. "Nick - he's been abusing me."

She had never said these words before, and the truth of her own confession sent a painful twinge through her chest that left her breathless for a moment. There was a heavy silence in the room that almost hurt her ears, and eventually, still avoiding everybody's gaze, she went on.

"I never told anybody about it. But when he - when it happened the last time - Loki found me afterwards and he took me here. And when Nick came here a few hours later and demanded to see me -"

Her voice broke and a wave of anger about her own weakness ran through her.

When somebody touched her shoulder, she flinched instinctively before she realized that it was Loki who had put his arm around her shoulder. She slumped against him and breathed in his wonderfully warm and calming scent.

"I confronted him", Loki said quietly. "He became furious when I told him that I would not allow him to see Emily, and that was when things went - a little rough."

Nobody else had said a word yet, and Emily couldn't bring herself to meet the others' eyes. She didn't want to see the silent reproaches in her coworkers' - and by now, friends' - eyes, or, even worse, the look of disparaging pity on their faces. She kept staring at the floor, unable to lift her head and face the others' reactions, and so she couldn't see how Tony's gaze wandered from Emily's to Loki's face to give him an approving smile, or the way that Clint's and Bruce's expressions had changed from shocked and angry to soft and understanding. She also didn't see how Steve's entire posture had changed while she'd been talking. He now looked at Loki and Emily with nothing but compassion in his eyes.

"I'm surprised you didn't kill him, actually", Steve said eventually.

"So am I", Loki admitted, "But Emily asked me not to."

Emily felt Loki's hand casually caress her shoulder and somehow the touch took some of the crushing pressure from her chest. She took a deep breath and reluctantly raised her eyes, anxious to meet those of her friends. She was surprised, but endlessly relieved when she didn't recognize any pity or accusation in their expressions, but genuine, concerned compassion and affection instead.

"I may not have been able to let him live", Clint murmured, and Bruce just shook his head.

Steve met Loki's eyes. "I'm sorry, Loki", he said frankly. "Had I known - I wouldn't have blamed you for attacking the guy. I might have paid the bastard a visit myself instead."

Clint cocked his head. "Maybe we should still do that. Just to make sure that he's gotten the message." He looked at Emily. "I'm sorry, Em. If you'd told us - we'd have kicked the guy's ass."

She smiled at him. It was strange, she thought, she had been so scared that they might judge her for what she had just told them; that they would look at her with nothing but pity and revulsion in their eyes, but she could see neither.

Tony smirked. "A little visit from the Avengers does sound like a good idea." His gaze wandered to Emily's face. "Kiddo, I'm sorry. I hope you know that you're safe here. Loki would rather go bald than let anything happen to you, and the rest of us is behind you, too."

Emily swallowed. She was desperately trying to fight the tears that she could already feel burning in her eyes.

"Thank you", she said, her voice shaken, and, suddenly overwhelmed with the amount of affection and care everybody was showing her, added, "Thank you so much, all of you - I'm really sorry for all the trouble -"

Bruce shook his head. "Forget it, it's no trouble at all."

"Yeah, no need to be sorry, kiddo. And if you ever need anything - no matter what it is -" Tony said, and Emily smiled at him.

"Thank you, Tony." She hesitated. "You know what, I could use a drink."

Tony grinned. "Now _that's_ something I can definitely help you with." He pulled a bottle and a few glasses from beneath his desk and put them onto the big meeting table that Clint was still sitting at. "I think we could all use one, actually."

Loki let go of Emily's shoulder and she felt a sudden and brief hint of sadness at the loss of his touch. They both sat down across from Tony and Clint. Steve, Bruce and Natasha joined them, and while Tony poured them all a glass of whiskey, Clint looked from Natasha to Emily.

"So there's one thing I don't get", he said, "Emily, when did you tell Natasha about everything?"

Emily glanced at Natasha. "I didn't. She kind of - figured it out on her own."

Natasha raised her shoulders. "I never liked Nick, anyways. When Fury called and said that Loki had attacked him, I just had a hunch, and when Tony told us that Emily was living with Loki for a while even though Loki had beaten him up... you really didn't have to be a genius to figure out what was going on."

The rest of the group exchanged slightly embarrassed glances - Natasha had been the only one who'd figured out what was going on.

Emily gave Natasha a warm smile. "Tasha came to the common room and told me about Nick's report, and that Loki was in trouble now and needed me to explain everything."

"I wasn't sure if Fury was going to let Loki get through with this, even if we explained his reasons, though", Natasha added, "That's why I stole the credits. I wish it had been me, anyways." She took a gulp of her whiskey and let out a sigh. "Not nearly as good as wodka, but anything is better than nothing. Anyways - it's a good thing that Loki and Bruce figured out what was going on so quickly - with Loki officially being in Michigan during the assault and the modified recording, I don't think Fury is going to question our version of the story anymore."

Tony, Clint and Bruce nodded approvingly while Steve's gaze was glued to the table. He still looked a tad guilty for his snap judgment.

When Natasha saw his expression, she continued. "Emily knew that Loki would lose all of your trust if you didn't know the truth. That's why she decided to tell you everything."

"See, I told you it would be for the best if we got Emily here", Tony muttered, looking at Loki, and he shot him an annoyed glare.

Emily eyed Loki with a frown. "Why didn't you just tell everyone about what had happened right away?"

Loki cocked his head. "You had asked me not to share anything of this with the others."

She nodded. "Yeah, but - but not if you were sent back to Asgard otherwise. And why didn't you come to me when you knew what was going on?"

"I did not want to - to burden you with such minor -"

"Minor?" Emily exclaimed, "Natasha said that Fury wanted to send you back to Asgard!"

Loki shrugged. "He would not have succeeded."

"The only reason he didn't succeed is because Natasha and Emily gave this magnificent performance just at the right moment", Tony stated while Emily still stared at Loki.

"Did you even have a _plan_ on how to get out of this?"

"Not yet", Loki admitted.

Emily shook her head and took a big gulp of whiskey. She started coughing as soon as she had reluctantly swallowed it, and Tony gave her an amused look.

"Holy shit, Tony, don't you have something a bit - lighter?"

When he shook his head, Loki waved his hand and a glass of red wine appeared in front of Emily.

"Do not worry, it is midgardian wine", he smirked and hesitated before he waved his hand again, this time in the Widow's direction. When a glass with a transparent liquid in it appeared, he nodded at her. "Your desired beverage."

Natasha frowned and took a sip of her new drink. Her entire face lit up. "Now _that_ is what I call wodka! Thank you, Loki!"

"Yeah, thank you", Emily mumbled, too, and went to take a sip of her wine, but then she put the glass back onto the table and shook her head. "No, wait, I'm still mad at you!"

Loki raised his eyebrows. "You are mad at me?"

"Yes! Well -", she added insecurely, "- maybe not mad, as per definition, but - Loki! You can't - you should have told me!"

"As I said, I did not wish to burden you with this."

Emily shook her head frantically. "So you would've rather gotten imprisoned for helping me instead of asking me to explain _why_ you'd helped me?"

"That would be correct."

"You're an idiot!" Emily exclaimed and quickly added, "I - I'm sorry, but - but seriously, I just - Loki, if Fury had gotten through with this, you could have been back in Asgard by now!"

Tony had enjoyed the disbelief on Loki's face when this little mortal had insulted him, but when Loki's gaze dropped to the table without answering Emily, he decided to step in.

"Loki was afraid that it would be a little tough for you to tell us about everything. He wanted to protect you, Emily."

Emily looked back at Loki. "You don't have to save me from _everything_ , you know", she said softly.

Loki shook his head. "I am not trying to -"

"Earlier today you tried to save me from Led Zeppelin."

Loki huffed, and they could hear Tony say "What the hell -", but Emily kept her gaze on Loki.

"I'm serious. Please." She hesitated before she added, "I mean, I'm not sure if I'd be able to stand my ground against Odin if I'd have to try to defend your honour against _him_."

Loki smirked. The thought of Emily talking back to Odin was truly delightful.

"Speaking of which - did you seriously just call Fury Captain Hook?" Clint said with a smirk, and Emily blushed.

"Oh god. Yes, I think I did."

Bruce chuckled. "I didn't know there was a little Hulk in you, too, Emily."

She laughed sheepishly. "It really takes a lot to get it out, though."

While the rest of them was now laughing about the expression on Fury's face when Emily had chastised him, Loki glanced at Emily, carefully trying to figure out if she was truly mad at him now. She caught his gaze and gave him a warm smile.

"Thank you", she whispered, and Loki returned her smile and took her hand, squeezing it gently.

"Thank _you_ ", he replied softly.

"But you still have to promise me that sometimes, you'll allow me to help you, too", Emily added.

Loki nodded. "Promised."

Steve, who had watched them holding hands with a thoughtful expression on his face, cleared his throat. "Well, I've got to say, I've been leery of your relationship before, but - I think it's safe to assume that you two are going to be good for each other."

Emily's cheeks turned crimson. "Oh god, Steve, no! We're not really together!"

Even Loki blushed a little. He had almost forgotten about that particular part of Natasha's and Emily's story.

Natasha chuckled at Steve's startled look. "We thought that that would be the most believable reason in case Fury wondered why Nick would blame Loki for his injuries instead of me."

"Oh", Steve said, his gaze wandering over Loki's and Emily's hands that were lying on the table, still intertwined, "I see. That was - very believable, indeed."

Neither Loki nor Emily noticed his slight smirk or the knowing and amused looks the rest of the group exchanged.

Eventually, Bruce broke the silence with a soft voice. "Emily - how are you now?"

"I'm fine", she replied instinctively, smiling at Bruce, and added, "Really. I'm glad that things have been straightened out now. Fury is not going to make any more problems, is he?"

Tony shook his head. "I don't think so. Don't worry, we're not going to let your honey go."

Emily laughed out. "That's good to hear. Um - so I guess you still have a few things to discuss concerning your last missions?"

"Actually, yes", Tony sighed, "It shouldn't take long, though."

Emily gave her best to not let out a grateful sigh. It had been a relief to finally be honest with everybody, and it meant the world to her that everybody had reacted the way they had, but right now, she just wanted to be alone for a while. She was tired, her mind was flooded with thoughts and emotions, and all that she longed for at this moment was to lie down in her bed, curl herself up and get some peace.

"Okay then", she said as she stood up and let go of Loki's hand, "Again, I'm - I'm sorry, and thank you for everything."

Tony waved his hand. "You're welcome, Emily. It's the least we could do."

"I'll see you all tomorrow", she replied with a genuine smile and left Tony's office.

The very moment that the door of the elevator closed behind her, she burst into tears. She couldn't really explain her sudden outburst of emotions to herself; it was a whirlwind of mixed feelings, something between anxiousness, anger, relief and gratitude. Ever since Natasha had approached her in the common room to tell her about Nick's report to S.H.I.E.L.D., she had felt so anxious that she could actually feel her head and neck starting to ache from all the tension by now. It felt unbelievably relieving to just cry it out and let it all go.

Inside of Tony's office, Steve shook his head absent-mindedly. "I'd never have suspected anything like this", he murmured, "I thought the guy was quite nice."

Loki raised his shoulders. "I have always disliked him, but I did not expect anything like this, either. I did not realize until - until I saw Emily that day." He clenched his fists at the memory.

Bruce cleared his throat. "How is she? I mean, how is she really?"

They all looked at Loki, and for a second, he thought about how absurd it all was - there he was, in the middle of Tony Stark's office, surrounded by the Avengers who were turning to him of all people to ask about the feelings of a mortal girl.

"She is strong", Loki replied hesitantly, "She has a hard time, naturally, but - I am sure that she will be fine."

He looked at Natasha. _Great_ , he thought, _as if things weren't absurd enough already, now I'm asking the russian for help._

"I am doing the best I can to support her, but it is not exactly my specialty to comfort humans. Maybe it would be helpful for her to speak to another mortal woman sometimes. She did say that she has been missing you."

Natasha nodded. "I'm going to stay in New York for a while, anyways. I thought I could talk to her later today." She eyed Loki thoughtfully. "I think you're doing more for her than you realize, though."

Loki didn't know what to say to that. This has been a strange day with an exceedingly surprising turn of events. Oddly enough, the russian praising him for what he was doing for another mortal was not even the tip of the iceberg.

"And what are we going to do about that son of a bitch?" Clint asked.

Tony sighed. "As much as I'd like to go and rip his head off right now, it might be a good idea to wait until Fury has fixed the problem with him and this report."

Natasha frowned. "We're not going to let him get away with it." It was not a question.

"Definitely not", Tony agreed, "But we're going to need a plan. A good plan that keeps everybody here on Earth." He winked at Loki, who rolled his eyes. "For now, though -" Tony stretched his arms and yawned, "- I think we should just call it a day. I'm actually not in the mood to discuss our mission right now. Let's do that tomorrow, huh?"

Clint emptied his glass of whiskey. "Couldn't agree more."

Loki was the first to rise from the table.

"I appreciate your support", he said severely and hesitated when he met Natasha's gaze. "I assume that I will see you sooner or later, russian, if you intend to see Emily today", he added with a sigh, "As you know, she lives with me for now."

Natasha smirked. "Cool. We can have a pyjama party together. I'll bring the wodka."

Loki just rolled his eyes.

"Oh, come on, buddy", Tony grinned, "We'll all come over tonight. We can braid your hair and watch movies together."

Well, if they wanted to tease him, that was a game Loki could play, too.

"Sure, if you so wish. It is time for _The Return of the King_ tonight. I am rather curious if Frodo is going to destroy the ring; I think Elijah Wood does a terrific portrayal of him."

Just as he'd expected, they all stared at him as if he'd suddenly grown a second head. Tony opened his mouth but for once seemed to be at a loss for words.

Loki smirked. "We have run out of popcorn, though. Make sure to bring some. Sweet for Emily, salty for me, and whatever you prefer."

And with these words, he vanished.

 

 


	28. Hello, Your Majesty

Loki heard Emily as soon as he stepped out of the elevator. But this time, instead of an alarmingly loud noise that would turn out to be incredibly odd music, he heard a heartbreaking sobbing that made his stomach churn. He hesitated before he knocked on the door.

"Emily, it is me."

"Come in", Emily replied from the other side.

When he entered his apartment, he saw Emily on his bed, her face tear-stained and swollen - but she still smiled at him.

"Loki, this is your home. You don't have to knock."

"It is your home now, too. And I did not want to disturb you."

Emily smiled and rubbed her eyes with the sleeves of her pullover. "You don't. That was a short meeting, though."

"Tony decided to have the meeting tomorrow. He said he wasn't in the mood for it anymore, and I must say that, for once, I agree with him."

Looking down at her hands, Emily hesitated before she said, "Loki, I'm really sorry. If I had known that Nick would -"

"I would have acted the same way, then, and I would always act this way again, too."

Emily gave him a weak smile. "I know. But I wouldn't have let you. If I think of you being back in Asgard - I mean, I couldn't even talk to you then, anymore, could I?" She frowned. "Do mobile phones work there?"

Loki chuckled as he approached the bed. "They do not. But do not worry, Emily, I am going nowhere. You and the russian have done a terrific job; even Stark doubts that Fury is going to be a problem anymore. I did not know that you can be so cunning", he added with a smirk, "I must say, I am rather proud."

As much as Emily wanted to revel in the praise for being cunning from the god of mischief himself, Emily was too perturbed by a sudden thought that had just struck her.

"But what about Odin? Is he going to do anything?"

Loki sat down next to Emily and looked at her. "I doubt it. I believe that if he wanted to, he would have already done so." He hesitated. "Why are you crying?"

"Seriously, I don't know", Emily said with a nervous giggle, "I guess it was just too much today - god, I was so scared that you were going to be locked up because of me - and I was afraid that I was going to mess up Natasha's and my plan - I was nervous that Fury wouldn't believe us, too; and that the others wouldn't support you; and that they'd despise me once I'd told them about Nick - and I was angry at Nick, that piece of _shit_ , how _dares_ he to do this to you; and I was scared that you would be angry at me because of all the trouble I'm causing you; and -"

She only stopped her ranting when Loki put his arms around her and pulled her into a soft embrace.

"You do not have to worry anymore", he murmured, stroking her hair, "Everything went just fine."

Emily nestled up to him, pressing her wet face into the warm crook of his neck, and just as she always did when Loki hugged her, she inhaled his scent with delight. _How can a person smell so good_ , she thought admiringly, unaware that Loki was thinking the very same thing at this moment.

"Thank you", she murmured, her breath sending shivers over Loki's skin, and he smiled.

"I believe that today, I have to thank _you_ ", he replied, "You and the russian, actually, which hurts my heart."

Emily giggled. "Sorry. But you know what, I think they all have really grown to like you. Tasha didn't hesitate a second to take the blame for you, and the others were loyal, too. Well, Steve was a little difficult, but when he heard why you've done what you've done - wow, I don't think I've ever heard the Captain apologize to anyone before. They're really starting to like you. To trust you."

When Loki remained silent, Emily squeezed his chest a bit. "I'm really proud of you", she said quietly.

The god didn't know what to reply to that, and he suddenly had such a tight throat that he wasn't sure if he could reply anything at all, anyways. He just planted a soft kiss on Emily's head, and Emily smiled as she started to rub his back in soothing little circles.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Using the bifrost was a loud and messy way of travelling. The side noises were uproarious, the landing spot's floors were always covered with innumerable ancient runes and the travel itself was not exceedingly comfortable, either; it often left those unaccustomed to it with heavy nausea and dizziness.

Fortunately, Odin did not have to use the bifrost to travel through the nine realms, which was one of the numerous advantages of being the Allfather. His silent and pleasant way of travelling was the reason that allowed Odin to enter his adoptive son's midgardian accommodation completely soundlessly, which was why he had been standing unnoticed beside his bed for quite a few minutes now, curiously eyeing the odd scenery in front of him.

His long-lost, coldhearted son was lying in bed with a mortal girl in his arms who was nuzzling into him as if she would trust him with her life. Their limbs were entangled and one of his hands was thrown over her waist to hold her hand while the other one was buried in her long, tousled curls. The most astonishing view, however, was his adoptive son's face - it looked peaceful, calm, almost careless, and a soft smile was playing around his lips. Odin couldn't remember when he had ever seen his son with an expression of such utter contentment on his face.

He had been standing there for a long while, incapable of disturbing the moment of peace that his son and this mortal stranger were sharing, and for the last two minutes or so he had done nothing but watching his son's peaceful face and listening to his steady, calm breathing.

That was the reason he didn't notice when the girl slowly began to stir in her sleep, and it wasn't until she screamed out in terror that Odin finally became aware that she had woken up.

Loki, however, didn't realize what was happening at all when Emily's loud scream startled him out of both his sleep and a most pleasant dream; he acted out of pure instinct when he conjured up his daggers and pointed them at Odin who took a step back and held his hands up in a defensive manner.

Emily had jumped to her feet and was standing on the bed now, her back pressed against the wall, while Loki stood in front of her, holding his daggers in his father's direction without fully understanding the situation.

"Father?" he finally said in disbelief, quickly correcting himself, "Odin, I mean. What -"

Odin furrowed his brows. "Loki. I did not mean to frighten your - company. I expected you to be alone."

"Well, I assume it to be surprising to you that there are people who wish to spend time with me on their own volition", Loki replied drily, quickly getting his senses back. He turned around to look at Emily. "Are you alright?"

Emily, still flustered, nodded with wide eyes and looked at Odin. "I - I'm so sorry - when I woke up and saw - I -"

"Do not worry", Loki said nonchalantly, "Odin's face certainly is a sight worth screaming."

"Loki!" Emily exclaimed admonishingly, and Loki smirked when he turned back around.

"What do you want, Odin?"

Emily took a step towards Loki and reached out for his hands, lowering them carefully.

"Put your daggers away, Loki", she whispered, and Loki glanced at her before he let them vanish.

They both got down from the bed and stood across from Odin now, and while Loki stood there with his arms crossed and his legs spread; his whole posture hostile, Emily took another step towards him and put out her hand.

"Um, hello, Y-Your Majesty", Emily said insecurely, and when Odin looked down at her hand as if it was some kind of poisonous insect, she quickly pulled it back and, trying to remember what Loki had shown her a while ago, did a rather clumsy and awkward attempt of a curtsy.

The corners of Loki's mouth twitched, and even Odin gave Emily a slightly softened look with something almost resembling a smile as he said, "Hello, Emily."

Emily's eyes widened when he called her by her name.

 _Well_ , she thought, _that's Odin, he probably knows more about you than you do yourself._ She bit her lip when she finally fully grasped the situation.  _Damn it, Emily, that's Odin, and the first thing that you do is scream at the man!_

"I - I'm really sorry for the inappropriate welcome - I didn't recognize you and - I'm not that used to waking up and seeing a stranger in front of my bed, let alone a - a god - I did not mean to insult you in any way."

Odin made a dismissive hand gesture. "It takes more than a screaming mortal to insult the Allfather."

Emily frowned, unsure whether Odin's answer meant that he accepted her apology or if he was simply degrading her.

"That's good to hear", she muttered insecurely and felt Loki tense beside her.

"I hate to repeat myself, but what do you want, Odin?"

Odin looked from Emily to Loki, whose face did not show any of the calmness that Odin had seen there before, and he straightened himself.

"I wish to talk to you. Alone."

"Yes, of course", Emily murmured sheepishly and was already starting to move towards the door when Loki put an arm around her shoulder.

"This is just as much Emily's apartment as it is mine, and you will not come here uninvited - and, if I may add, unwelcomed - and command her out of her own home."

Emily looked at Loki, surprised by the cold bitterness in his voice. "It's okay, really", she said quietly, "I'm sure you two have a lot to talk about -"

Loki let out a cold laugh. "Odin and I never had much to talk about and I doubt that we do now."

"Enough, Loki", Odin said sternly.

They eyed each other with blatant distrust. Emily couldn't remember when she had ever felt such an uncomfortable coldness between two people - if it wasn't for the distinct feeling that Loki wanted her around, she might have just tried to sneak out of the room.

"Heimdall informed me of your violent encounter with a human being", Odin said, and while Emily tensed up immediately, Loki chuckled coldly.

"You are not watching me yourself, then? I assume that it would claim too much of your valuable attention, would it not?"

Odin let out a sigh. "I have entrusted Heimdall with this task as soon as I had noticed an improvement of your attitude."

"Am I an obedient pet to you now?" Loki spat, and Odin shook his head.

"You twist my words just like you twist the truth, son."

_"I am not your son!"_

When Emily touched his arm carefully, he glanced at her and took a deep breath.

"Be it as it may", he continued, slightly calmer now, "What is it that you want from me now? Punish me for my latest crime? Come with you to Asgard and let you throw me back into a cell to rot there for the rest of my life?"

Emily looked at Odin with wide eyes, and to her surprise, he returned her gaze.

"I think it would be more appropriate to not discuss my political decisions in front of a mortal."

Before Loki could reply, Emily already heard herself talk. "With all due respect, Mr - um, Mr Odin - but this _mortal_ is the reason for the violent encounter that you want to punish Loki for, and I therefore think that it would be more than appropriate if I stayed here."

It was hard to tell who was more surprised by her words; Odin, Loki or Emily herself.

"Do you, now?" Odin said, more amused than angered, and Emily raised her chin.

"Yes. He did it to protect me, and I will not allow you to punish him for it."

Loki looked at Emily, his eyebrows raised, and for a brief moment he felt the urge to either burst with laughter or kiss her; he was not sure which one was more befitting the situation.

Odin's face was torn between astonishment and displeasure. "You will not _allow_ me? Do you have any idea of who you are talking to?"

Emily returned his gaze as steadily as she could. She just hoped that Odin didn't notice her trembling hands or how weak her knees had become.

"I know who you are", she said quietly, "And I don't want to - to disrespect you or anything, but - Loki doesn't deserve any punishment at all for simply helping me. After all -", she quickly added, struck by a brainwave, "- that is why you've sent him here, isn't it, to make peace with the human race and learn to protect them?"

Odin eyed the mortal standing in front of him. When he looked back at Loki, whose astounded gaze still lingered on Emily, he couldn't suppress a faint smile.

"I can see why you like her", he stated, and Loki narrowed his eyes when he met his gaze. "And I can assure you and your brave mortal friend that I did not intend to punish you, anyways. Heimdall told me that your actions have been moderate and fair, and the only reason for my visit is to let you know that you have no consequences to fear because of them."

Loki and Emily both stared at Odin in disbelief.

"I appreciate that", Loki said eventually, and Odin nodded graciously.

"It was your mother's wish that I let you know about my decision. She sends her regards."

When Loki didn't react, Emily gave him a soft dig with her elbow that Odin didn't miss.

"Send her my regards, too", Loki muttered.

Odin smiled. "I will." He hesitated a moment before he added, "Your mother and I are pleasantly surprised by your development."

Loki had lost count on how many times different people had already surprised him today, but to hear Odin praise him was so odd that he actually wondered if he might still be dreaming. He blinked a few times, his silvertongue suddenly fallen silent, and cleared his throat without saying something.

"Well", Odin went on, obviously just as uncomfortable with the situation as Loki, "I shall leave now." For a second, his gaze lingered on Emily before it wandered back to Loki's face. "I did not expect myself to ever have to tell you this, but I do hope that you are not as foolish as your brother regarding your - growing fondness of mortals."

Loki opened his mouth for a sharp reply, but Odin did not give him enough time for that.

"Behave yourself, son."

And before Loki could remind him of the fact that he was _not_ his son, Odin had already hit the ground with Gungnir and was gone.

"Wow", Emily said after a moment, "A pleasure to meet you, too." She looked at Loki who was still staring at the place where his father had been standing moments ago. "Are you okay?"

Loki raised his shoulders. "Why would I not be?"

Emily eyed him carefully. "Odin and you -"

"I am fine", Loki replied before she could say another word. The encounter with Odin had certainly flustered him, but he didn't feel like discussing his visit any further - at least not in any way that would involve talking about his emotions. He cocked his head and finally returned Emily's gaze with a smile. "Little one, I must say, you are astonishing. Did you not express your doubts regarding your capability of defying the Allfather just mere hours ago?"

She chuckled nervously. "Yeah - oh god - I was just - I thought he was going to punish you or something -"

Loki eyed her pensively. "If you only offered as much resistance to somebody threatening you as you do to those threatening me."

When Emily fell silent, Loki smirked. "Thank you", he said slowly, "I appreciate it."

"Are you _pleasantly surprised with my development?_ " Emily teased him, and Loki laughed.

"I am, little one."

Emily let out a sigh. "God, for today, I've really had my fill of one-eyed gadflies." She widened her eyes and asked, "He can't still hear us, can he?"

"No", Loki smirked, "Well, he could, but I doubt that he does. He has more important matters to take care of than his wayward son. You heard him, he would rather let his watchdog observe me."

Emily didn't miss the poorly hidden bitterness in his voice, and she cocked her head.

"You know, you could see that as a proof of his growing trust, too", she said softly, "He said he'd stopped watching you himself once he had noticed 'an improvement of your attitude' - that means that he started to trust you to not do anything so - um - fatal - that it would call for his immediate intervention anymore, doesn't it?"

Loki watched her thoughtfully.

"Who knows what that old fool is thinking", he muttered dismissively after a moment, and Emily understood that he didn't want to delve into this topic further. "I wonder why he didn't just send Thor", Loki added, and Emily frowned.

"Speaking of which - what did he mean with you not being as foolish as Thor with mortals?"

The god shrugged. "He is not very pleased with Thor being Midgard's self-appointed saviour. He would rather have him solely in charge of Asgard."

He knew very well that this was not what Odin had meant - he had clearly hinted at his friendship with Emily and Thor's relationship with Jane - but he would certainly not tell Emily the truth about Odin's ridiculous warning.

Emily suddenly gave him a strange look and Loki raised his eyebrows. "What is it?"

She hesitated. "Nothing, it's just - I never thought about your return to Asgard before."

Loki cocked his head. "I believe that it is still a long time until then."

"You don't know how long you're still supposed to stay?"

"Until I 'deem myself worthy of being a part of the asgardian royal family again'." Loki rolled his eyes at his father's choice of words, but he noticed in surprise that they didn't bother him as much as they had used to anymore.

Emily smiled. "Maybe we should breed a little mischief, then. To deem you unworthy for as long as possible."

Loki chuckled. "You wish to keep me here? Do you mean to tell me that you would miss me, darling?"

Emily's cheeks felt embarrassingly hot. "Of course I'd miss you", she mumbled.

"I could take you to Asgard with me, then", Loki teased her, "Maybe I can make you my chambermaid."

She slapped his chest with a smirk. "You know what, I hereby deem you unworthy of returning to Asgard, for you are guilty of mocking a poor, innocent mortal."

"I beg your forgiveness", Loki chuckled, but Emily shook her head.

"Too little, too late."

They both turned to the door in surprise when it knocked.

"By the norns, who can it be now", Loki muttered while Emily walked towards the door and opened it to see Tony and Natasha standing there; both holding bottles in their hands.

"Bruce is getting the popcorn and Clint and Steve are ordering pizza for all of us", Tony explained, and Emily stared at them in utter surprise.

When she turned around to Loki, she saw him burying his face in his hands, groaning as if in massive pain.

"What's wrong with you, honey?" Tony asked with a smirk, and Emily couldn't help but grin.

"Um, what are you doing here?"

Natasha, who had stepped in and just put the bottle of wodka on Loki's table, smiled at her. "Why, did Loki not tell you that he's invited us for your _Lord of the Rings_ night?"

Emily snorted with laughter. "He did what?"

" _Oh by the norns_ , you knew very well that I was jesting!" Loki exclaimed.

Both Tony and Natasha shrugged.

"Did you know that he was jesting?" Natasha asked Tony innocently, and he raised his hands.

"I had no idea, I promise."

 

 

* * *

 

 

"He's going to kill you."

"Been there, done that."

Emily shook her head at Tony's reply, but couldn't stifle a smirk when she caught Natasha's amused smile.

Bruce, Clint and Steve had arrived shortly after Natasha and Tony - with lots of both salty and sweet popcorn and Tony's favourite, chocolate and caramel covered popcorn that Loki called an abomination - and Loki, even though complaining ceaselessly while doing so, quickly conjured up another couch so everyone could sit down in front of the TV. Emily wasn't entirely sure if he was truly annoyed and just tolerating the others' company to cheer her up or if he just found it entertaining to act so irritated around the others, but either way, she caught him grinning and even chuckling quite a few times, so she figured that he did enjoy the evening at least a little bit.

The evening had been surprisingly pleasant and relaxed (except for the brief moment of tension that had followed Tony's toast to Loki's and Emily's 'house warming party' - Emily had quickly explained to Loki that this was a colloquial expression on Midgard and in no way a reference to his heritage). They had watched _The Return of the King_ and then spent a while listening to Loki's stories about quite similar, epic battles that had taken place during the last thousands of years in the nine realms, which had led to an exchange of their different experiences with battles and wars. Emily, who had obviously been the only one who didn't have any stories of that kind to tell, had been listening to their tales with awe, occasionally entertaining the others with questions that she thought very reasonable and everybody else found simply hilarious ("But if that battle went on for two days, when did you ever find the time to pee?").

At some point, they had agreed on playing a drinking game - everybody would have to take a shot each time Tony would give somebody a nickname; Loki would roll his eyes; Steve would admonish someone else for something they'd said, Bruce would mention his superiority over 'the other guy', Clint would say something sarcastic, Natasha would accidentally use a russian word or Emily would spill her drink. The evening had gone straight downhill from that moment on - it had not taken long until all of them had been dead drunk.

When the wodka and the whiskey had been emptied, Loki had poured them his asgardian wine, and the mixture of the three alcoholic beverages had obviously been too much even for the god himself - he had fallen asleep in his armchair somewhere between his third and fourth glass of wine. Clint, Steve and Bruce had fallen asleep only moments later; they were lying on the big couch that Loki had conjured up, nestled up to each other and snoring soundly.

Tony, Natasha and Emily, who shared the second couch, were the only ones that were still awake, and they had already had a considerable amount of fun taking pictures of the three men cuddling with each other when eventually, Tony had decided to sneak up on the sleeping god of mischief.

"If he wakes up from your touch, you'll have his dagger in your throat before you can even say _'Hello honey'_ ", Emily whispered, but Tony kept giggling like a little girl.

"He's my best buddy, he's not gonna hurt me!" he said proudly.

Natasha raised her eyebrows. "Best buddy? When did that happen?"

Emily shook her head. "I have no idea. I'm not sure Loki knows that it's happened, either."

Tony had reached Loki now and carefully sat down on the armrest next to him. Natasha and Emily watched him, torn between amusement and worry, as he reached out to touch the god's hair. When Loki hummed quietly at the touch, though, they both dissolved into giggles.

"Tasha, are you going to take the blame again if Loki stabs Tony?" Emily whispered, and Natasha smirked.

"Only if the hairdo is worth it."

They both watched expectantly as Tony carefully started to braid Loki's hair into several little braids while the god merely hummed from time to time, obviously too drunk to actually wake up from the unfamiliar touch. When Tony was done, he made a mocking bow into Emily's and Natasha's direction, who were both struggling to keep their snorting laughter as silent as possible regarding Loki's appearance. He was still sleeping peacefully, and his sleek black hair was falling onto his shoulders in a dozen of neatly plaited braids.

"Stand next to him, I'll take a picture", Emily giggled, "Oh god, he's going to kill all of us now."

"Don't be ridiculous, Loki-honey would never hurt his darling", Tony said, slurring slightly, and yawned as he walked over to Loki's bed and let himself fall into it. "Ah, this bed feels like heaven. Feel free to join me, ladies. And bring your boyfriends, if you want to. I'm ready to play."

Natasha snorted. "Really? You want Emily, me, the Hulk and the god of mischief in your bed? You sure you can take us all?"

Emily furrowed her brows. "Uh, Tony - you know that that was just a part of Tasha's and my story, right? You know that Loki's not really my boyfriend?"

"Keep telling yourself that, kiddo", Tony mumbled into Loki's pillow, "But I tell you what, I'm gonna be his best man."

Emily turned around and looked at Natasha, who was lying on the couch now, stretching her arms. "What the hell is he talking about?"

"Forget it, girl, he's drunk. He doesn't know what he's saying", Natasha yawned, "But I call dibs on being the bridesmaid."

 

 

 


	29. Everything Will Be Fine

When Loki woke up the next morning, he - and there was no other word to put it, as much as he hated using a midgardian colloquialism - felt like shit. He must have fallen asleep in his armchair last night, he felt a soreness in his muscles as he stretched his arms, and he growled when he noticed a dull pain in his head, too. This had to be the effects of the low-quality midgardian alcohol; he'd never felt like this from any asgardian drink before. When he opened his eyes, he found himself looking straight into Emily's face. She was sitting on the couch opposite from him, and she eyed him with what seemed to be a mixture of curiosity, amusement and anticipation.

"What?" he said, confused, and Emily giggled.

"Nothing. Good morning, Your Majesty."

Loki snorted. "Since when do you call me that?"

"Since you look so very majestic, I assume", he heard a voice coming from behind him, and when he turned to see Tony Stark lying in his bed, he rolled his eyes.

"Stark, just _why_ do you always sneak into my bed when I share a drink with you?"

"I'm sorry, what?" Clint said sleepily, "Did you say 'always'? Is there anything we should know about the two of you?"

Loki huffed, ran his hands through his hair - and froze. "What in the -"

He held one of his braids between his finger and his thumb as if it was somehow dangerous, and stared at it for a very long second. Then -

_"Stark!"_

"Yeah, honey? Want me to do your makeup, too?"

Loki was on his feet in an instant, shooting glares at Tony. "How dare you!"

Tony finally rose from the bed and let himself fall on the couch next to Emily, smirking at Loki. "It suits you."

Emily was snorting with laughter, and quickly tried to cover her mouth with her hands. Loki shot her a glare.

"And _you!_ I've trusted you!"

She giggled. "I'm sorry. But it _does_ suit you. God, you look so cute!"

Loki was torn between anger and amusement. He looked around to see both Clint and Steve smirking at him; Natasha and Bruce were still asleep. When his gaze flickered back to Tony, he narrowed his eyes. Tony still had a broad grin on his face.

"I wish I'd had little pink hair clips, but it already looks smashing as it is. You really owe me, honey."

 _Well, shit,_ Emily thought as she recognized a mischievous glint in Loki's eyes, _he really shouldn't have said that._

Tony didn't seem to realize his mistake; he still smirked at Loki and looked mildly surprised when Loki suddenly returned the grin and casually flicked his wrist. While Emily gasped and both Clint and Steve burst with roaring laughter, Loki leaned back in his armchair, deeply satisfied with himself.

"I think you will agree that we are even now, Stark."

Tony furrowed his eyebrows that Loki had just coloured in the same shade of shocking pink as his hair and his beard, and he turned his head to look at Emily, who was snorting with laughter.

"What did he do?"

"Oh, you look fabulous", she panted, "Loki, please please please, do the same to me!"

Loki's eyebrows raised in amusement while Tony's eyes widened with obvious fright - if Emily wanted the same thing done to her hair, it could only mean that it was, at least in Tony's eyes, horrendous. When Loki waved his hand and Emily could see her tousled hair turn pink out of the corner of her eyes, she shrieked in delight. Tony on the other hand looked utterly terrified.

"Whoa! Don't tell me I - no!" He jumped to his feet and hurried into the bathroom. "FROSTY!" he shouted a second later, and Emily giggled.

"How do I look?" she asked excitedly, looking back at Loki, and he smirked.

"You look great, darling."

Emily quickly jumped over to the huge mirror that was hanging next to Loki's wardrobe, and she let out another delighted squeak, shaking her hot pink curls. She was still admiring her new hair colour when she caught the tired gazes of Bruce and Natasha, who had been startled from their sleep by Emily's squeaking, in the mirror.

"Hey, when did that happen?" Natasha said confused, eyeing Emily, and Bruce went to open his mouth, too, but glanced at Loki before he could say something.

"No, when did _that_ happen", he exclaimed, pointing at Loki, and Natasha smirked.

"I'm afraid you missed out on a lot last night, Bruce."

When Tony returned to the living room, Bruce gasped at the sight. "Yeah, obviously!"

Tony struck a pose and smirked. "Admit it, I'm still sexy as hell!"

Loki huffed. "You are no match to me, Stark."

Emily grinned at the two. "You know what, let me take a picture and I'm going to run an online poll."

"You will not", Loki stated, shooting her a warning glance, and Emily pouted.

"Okay, but can I still take a picture? I need a new wallpaper for my phone."

Before Loki could reply with what would have been a firm "No", Tony lowered his head next to Loki's, did a peace sign and smirked into Emily's direction, who was fortunately quick enough with her mobile phone's camera to take a picture that she was quite sure she might be able to win a Pulitzer Prize with.

Loki let out a long, exasperated breath. "You are lucky I am still not allowed to kill anyone, Stark - if anyone is messing with my hair, he is usually going to suffer a painful death as a consequence."

" _You_ are lucky that I am such a ravishing beauty that nothing could ever uglify me!"

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "I don't know, Stark, somehow I doubt that you'd have your reputation as a playboy if you'd always looked like this."

Tony crossed his arms. "Oh, really? Challenge accepted! - No, rather not", he added thoughtfully after a second, "Pepper might not approve of this."

Steve huffed. "Ladies, as much as I enjoy your chitchat about your new hairstyles - I'm starving. This asgardian stuff actually has some impact on me, I think."

Natasha, Tony and Emily exchanged amused glances.

"As a matter of fact", Tony smirked, "We took some pictures last night that show just how much of an impact the stuff has on our dear Captain Cuddly."

"Please, spare me the details", Steve groaned, "Just get me something to eat. I haven't been hungover in 70 years, I've forgotten how bad it is."

 

 

* * *

 

 

They decided to turn their planned meeting into a hangover breakfast, much like the one Tony and Loki had had a while ago, except that this time they all were in desperate need of it.

When Loki had entangled his hair (which made him look like a poodle with a perm, as Tony had said) he hadn't been able to turn Emily's wish for him to keep his hair like this down, and when she had promised not to take another picture of him, he had agreed to keep it like this for the breakfast with an exasperated sigh. He usually was quite vain when it came to his hair, and he always placed a lot of value on how he was wearing it - but keeping these ridiculous curls for just a while longer made Emily's eyes twinkle with joy, and that alone was worth looking like whatever it was that Stark had dared to call him.

They were just enjoying the breakfast Tony had ordered and they were finally starting to feel like actual human beings - or in Loki's case, like the god he was - again, when an enormous thunder sounded.

Tony sighed. "It's like he _knows_ we're having bacon."

When Thor walked into the common room while Tony, Loki and Clint were quickly grabbing as much bacon as possible from the big plate in the middle of the table, the god of thunder's huge grin slid down from his face and his mouth dropped open.

"By the norns", he said, looking from Loki to Tony and then to Emily, "What happened to your hair?"

"That is our disguise for our next mission", Loki said deadpan, "It is very fortunate that you are here; we are in desperate need of support."

Thor narrowed his eyes at his brother. "I do not believe you."

Loki put his hand on his heart. "That hurts, brother. Have I ever given you a reason to doubt my sincerity?"

Clint snorted and Tony almost choked on his coffee.

Thor slumped onto one of the chairs, still eyeing Tony's pink hair and beard and Loki's curls before he shrugged and reached out to pick up a piece of bacon from his brother's plate.

"I am not going to fall for that again", he said through a mouthful of food, and Emily frowned.

"Again?"

Thor growled. "Again. Loki obviously enjoys playing with hair colours. It's even the same one, brother!" he added, shooting Loki a reproachful look.

Steve was looking from Thor to Loki. "Come on, tell us!"

Thor sighed and swallowed the impressing amount of food that he had in his mouth. When he started speaking, he lowered his voice conspiratorially. "When we were younger, our parents wanted to send us to the royal family of Alfheim for a few weeks to show us different cultures. Loki told me that Light Elves had pink hair and eyebrows and would be flattered if we were wearing the same colour for our visit."

Loki shrugged with a smirk. "If you had paid attention in our geography lessons, you would have known what Light Elves look like. I can only take a small part of the blame in this case, really."

"A small part?" Thor exclaimed, "You turned my hair and my eyebrows pink and let me travel through the realms like that!"

Loki had an amused smile on his face; he was clearly entertained by the memory. The others were shaking with laughter by now and Thor shot them indignant glares.

"Didn't you wonder why Loki didn't turn his own hair pink?" Natasha asked, smirking, and Thor just huffed.

Laughing out, Loki nodded. "I did. Or so he thought. I used an illusion to make him think I had pink hair, too. Unfortunately, he was the only one seeing it."

"Everybody in Alfheim thought I was an utter fool!"

"I know", Loki told him and bit into his pancake, "That's what made it so amusing."

"Thor with pink hair", Emily giggled, "Oh god, it must have looked glorious."

"Indeed", Loki confirmed, "It truly was one of my favourite changes in your appearance, brother."

"What's your other favourites?" Steve asked curiously, but before Loki could reply, Thor opened his mouth.

"Enough of this! I do not -"

"Oh please, brother", Loki smirked, "You do not wish to tell them about the fantastic Frog of Thunder?"

Not even Thor's booming voice that was ordering Loki to be quiet could drown out the broad laughter that followed Loki's last remark.

 

 

* * *

 

 

"It's a shame you straightened your hair again, you looked so cute", Emily said when she and Loki were sitting on the couch again in the evening.

"I am the god of mischief, not the god of cuteness", Loki replied, and Emily smirked.

"Can't you be both? I can help you -"

"Stop it, now. I will not allow you to braid my hair."

Emily sighed. "It was worth a try." She hesitated. "What did Thor want from you?"

Especially considering the fact that they had had a very long night before, this day had been quite exhausting. When they had finished their breakfast, the whole team had discussed their former and their upcoming missions, which had taken more time than it usually did because Thor had to be briefed about everything that had been going on during his absence. Afterwards, Emily had had to catch up on a surprising lot of work that she had been neglecting during her break while the Avengers and Loki had gone to the training area to try out a new training plan that Steve and Clint had developed.

When Emily and Loki had met in the common room in the afternoon to have a cappuccino, they hadn't been able to sit there for longer than five minutes until Thor had shown up to ask Loki for a 'private conversation', and shortly after the two brothers had left, Tony had messaged Emily to let her know that he needed her help with what he called 'a new little project'.

Of course his new project was anything but little, and it had already been late evening when Emily had finally returned to Loki's apartment, surprised that Loki himself hadn't been around yet. She had been curled up on the couch with a book when Loki had come home an hour later. He'd told her that he'd had a long talk with Thor that had ended in an even longer sparring match, and he'd looked even more tired and exhausted than Emily felt herself.

They were sitting on the couch now, Nolan sleeping peacefully between them, both drinking a peppermint tea (that Loki had called a sad excuse for a beverage before he had finally given in to Emily's hangdog look and had actually taken a sip - he had fallen silent afterwards, which, as Emily knew, was a sure sign that he loved the tea and just didn't want to admit that he's been mistaken).

"Oh, nothing important, actually", Loki replied, petting Nolan's head absent-mindedly, "He just told me about the situation in Asgard and about a few conversations he'd had with our parents."

"About you?"

"Among other things, yes."

Emily eyed Loki carefully, and Loki gave her a smile.

"It was nothing of significance, I can assure you."

That was at least half of the truth - Thor had, of course, asked him about the incident with Nick, but Loki had decided not to bring this topic up now. Most of all, his brother had expressed his concern about the possibility that Loki could decide to seek Nick out again, but Loki had assured him that he didn't plan to do anything to the pathetic mortal at the moment because he preferred to focus on Emily for now. This reply had made Thor smirk and wriggle his eyebrows so suggestively that Loki had threatened to turn him into a frog again, and that had been the moment that had led to the sparring fight, which had taken much longer than their initial talk - just as it had always been like when they'd been younger.

"Is there a reason that he's back?" Emily asked.

"Apart from the fact that he has been missing his dearest Jane? No."

Emily grinned. "I see."

When Loki had emptied his mug, he yawned.

"I really am exhausted", he stated, "I will go to sleep, little one. Do you wish to keep reading?"

She looked uncertain. "Doesn't the light bother you? I can go to sleep, too, or go into the spare room, or -"

Loki shook his head. "I have slept in cold and soaked tents in the middle of battles - I can take some light."

Emily smiled, and he quickly added, "I dare you to braid my hair, though."

She giggled. "I promise, I won't touch your hair."

When Loki rose from the couch, Emily picked up her book again, and she couldn't help but feel almost overwhelmed by the sudden wave of peace and calmness that she was feeling. _Sitting on the couch, drinking a tea and reading a book while your boyfriend goes to sleep next to you,_ she thought, amazed, _that's the dream._ Nick had always insisted that she followed him when he'd gone to bed, and he hadn't approved of her reading, either; he'd always said that he wanted her to himself when he was home. Besides, even when Nick had let her read - somehow she had never felt as relaxed around him as she did right now.

She smiled to herself, enjoying the unfamiliar feeling of safety and complete inner peace, when she suddenly flinched. Had she seriously just thought of Loki as her _boyfriend?_ Her cheeks became uncomfortably hot when she realized her slip, and she shook her head at herself.

 _God, pull yourself together,_ she thought rather embarrassed, _just because you live here now doesn't mean that you're together._

She took a deep breath and gave her best to focus on her book again.

When Loki came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, wearing his black cloth pants as always, he smiled at the sight of Emily lying on the couch, completely relaxed, reading her book without even noticing his presence. She bit lightly into her lower lip while reading an obviously exciting part of the book, and Loki had to force himself not to keep watching her, which would most likely have unsettled her if she'd noticed. Instead, he went into the kitchen and made another cup of the surprisingly delicious tea to place it in front of Emily, who looked up with a startled expression on her face.

"You're not going to sleep?"

Loki smiled. "Yes, I am. The tea is for you. I noticed that your mug is empty."

For a second, he feared that she would start to cry; her eyes suddenly glistened in a strange way, but then a genuine smile appeared on her lips instead.

"Thank you so much, Loki", she said with a wavery voice, as if touched deeply, "Really, I - thank you."

Loki frowned. "It is just tea. But you are welcome, little one."

He gave her a smile before he finally walked over to his bed and lay down. He was so tired that he fell asleep almost instantly, never noticing the way that Emily's gaze followed him, her eyes indeed filled with tears.

 

 

* * *

 

 

It was almost an hour later that Emily looked up from her book in surprise when she heard Loki whimpering in his sleep. It was a strange sound, coming from him, and Emily was already starting to doubt if she had actually heard anything at all when he suddenly made another choked noise.

She put her book away and quickly walked over to Loki, looking at him with concern. He was covered in sweat and breathing frantically, his hands clutched around the blanket, and when he let out another strangled cry, Emily knelt down beside his bed and took one of his hands, squeezing it tightly, while she used her other hand to gently stroke his head. She remembered the one time he'd had a nightmare before, but it had never happened again until tonight.

"Hey, Loki? Loki, please wake up."

He didn't wake up, he merely stirred in his sleep and suddenly gasped for air.

Emily caressed his cheek softly. "Hey, honey. Wake up, please. You're just dreaming. You're safe."

With a choked cry he leapt up, his glazed eyes darting through the room until they found Emily's.

"It's okay", she whispered soothingly, "You're safe. I'm here."

"Emily", he said, as if he had to remind himself of her name, and she smiled at him.

"Yes, Emily. I'm here with you and you're safe."

Loki took a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to calm himself down, but the memories were still there, just where they've always been - lurking in the shadows of his broken mind, always waiting for him to lose himself in a second of levity so they could burst out from their hiding place and hurl him down into the haunting darkness of his past.

His eyes flew open when Emily, lying next to him now, suddenly wrapped her arms around his sweaty body, and he flinched when she tried to pull him into an embrace. She started to hum soothingly, and Loki was astonished when he recognized the melody - it was an asgardian lullaby that his mother used to sing to him when he was a kid; he had hummed it to Emily a few times when she had been crying. He slowly felt the tension leave his body as he let himself fall into her embrace.

Maybe it was because Emily's scent was so wonderfully calming, maybe it was her clear voice that was humming to him, or maybe it was the tenderness and closeness that she showed him, but slowly, yet steadily, Loki didn't feel threatened or scared anymore - he felt warm, he felt safe, and if there was anything inside of his mind that still wished to sacrifice him to the darkness, he suddenly had the confident feeling that Emily's light would be bright enough to lead him out of it again.

They were lying like this for what felt like a blissful eternity. Emily was holding Loki in her arms, stroking his head that he had buried inside of her soft, still pink hair, and he was clinging to Emily as if he was hanging on for dear life.

When he pulled out of her embrace after a while, he looked at her for a moment before he planted a soft kiss on her forehead.

"Thank you", he said hoarsely, and Emily smiled.

"You're very welcome." She hesitated. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Loki was already shaking his head out of pure instinct when he suddenly realized in astonishment that that wasn't true - actually, he did want to talk about it. It was the very first time in a very long time that he felt the unfamiliar need to tell someone about some of the thoughts that were haunting him.

Emily, for some reason, seemed to understand what was going on inside of his head. She just looked at him with a soft expression on her face; Loki couldn't recognize the tiniest hint of impatience or pressure on her face, and he straightened himself.

"I told you that I have been adopted."

Emily nodded, and he did the same.

"I also told you that I reacted in a very unfortunate way when I found out. I caused - some trouble, to say the least." He hesitated, his gaze flickering through the room. "One unfortunate action led to another, and the bifrost was destroyed due to these actions. Thor and I fell from the bridge, but Odin appeared just in time to reach out for Thor, who caught hold of me. I tried to explain myself to - to Odin - whom I still called father back then. I tried to tell him that I, too, was a son worthy of his love - that the only reason I had done the things I'd done was to prove myself worthy to him, to show him that I would have done everything, _anything_ to gain his trust and respect - and his answer was _'No, Loki.'_ "

He let out a choked laugh. "Just these two words, nothing more. _'No, Loki'_. I could as well have begged for him to, just for once in his life, take my hand and be the father that he had always claimed to be - but all that he did was say _'No, Loki'_. And I let go. I let go of Thor, I let go of my father - I let go of Asgard and everything I had ever known. I let go of my life. And I fell into the gaping abyss."

Emily took Loki's ice-cold hand and he glanced at her with a bitter smile.

"That was the last time, by the way, that I ever called Odin my father."

She nodded slowly, squeezing his hand lightly, and he returned the gesture gratefully.

"I should have died back then", he continued, "And I was more than willing to. But I did not. When I opened my eyes again, I was with him - with Thanos." He fell silent for a moment. "He saved me - if you can call it _saving_ to pull somebody back from the edge of death only to let him endure much worse."

A pained expression coated Loki's face, and his eyes were suddenly clouded with such agonising despair that Emily felt a painful lump in her throat. He remained silent for a few minutes, and Emily just waited, gently caressing his hand. When he started to speak again, his voice was toneless, empty.

"The midgardian word for what was to follow would be torture, but it barely describes what Thanos has done to me. He was cutting and ripping my body apart, piece by piece, until I was on the brink of death - and he left me right there, for hours, days, maybe weeks, I do not know. There was no such thing as time, there was only pain, and more pain waiting for me. I was longing for death in every single second of every single day. I would have greeted death gratefully had it come to me. But whenever my body was finally ready to give up, Thanos healed every damage he had inflicted upon me and restored my health completely just so he could start all over again."

Emily still hadn't said a single word, but silent tears were running down her cheeks and her grip around Loki's hand had become so tight that it would have hurt him had he been mortal.

"But the physical torment was not the worst. Thanos has a way of - invading your mind, your soul. He broke into my mind and he twisted my thoughts, my memories, my emotions - everything that I was - to use it all against me."

Loki glanced at Emily with an almost pleading look on his face.

"I am strong, little one, but I stood no chance against Thanos. It took him two years, but in the end, he broke me."

Emily's eyes widened, causing fresh tears to fall down her pained face. "Two years?" she whispered, horrified, and Loki nodded.

"It felt like so much more. It felt like an eternity. And then, one day, he came to me with an offer. I did not need to think twice. I saw an opportunity for escape, and I took it without hesitation."

Emily nodded. "And - his offer -"

"I was to conquer Midgard and give him the tesseract in return."

For a while, they both sat in silence, until eventually, Emily cleared her throat.

"Loki, I - I am so sorry. I wish I could - I - I'm sorry, but I don't even know what to say." Her voice was choked. "Do - do the others know about all this?"

Loki shook his head. "They know that Thanos has saved me from the abyss and that he has ordered me to attack Midgard and bring him the tesseract in return. Nothing more."

Emily looked at him for a moment. Then she suddenly moved closer to him and wrapped her arms around his chest. Loki frowned and patted her back rather awkwardly.

"Please do not pity me, little one."

She let go of him in an instant and stared at him with wide eyes, disbelief on her face.

"Pity you? I don't pity you! Why would I pity you? You're the strongest, bravest person I have ever met, or even heard of! I'm just - I feel like my heart is breaking when I think about what that bastard has done to you - and the thought that you have been alone with this all this time -" Her voice broke. "You didn't deserve this, you didn't deserve any of this, Loki."

Loki swallowed, and Emily suddenly frowned.

"But - wait - you never brought him the tesseract. It's back in Asgard, isn't it?"

He smiled bitterly. "Precisely. Hence my nightmares."

When Emily looked at him in confusion, he added reluctantly, "Thanos will come to get me. It is only a matter of time."

"But - but does he know where you are? Can he find you here?"

"Not at the moment. I am hiding myself behind a veil that he cannot see through. But he will figure it out eventually, and he will come."

He hadn't been looking at Emily while he'd been speaking, but when he caught her panicked gaze now, he squeezed her hand soothingly.

"Do not worry. Everything will be fine, I promise."

"But if he comes to get you -"

Loki smiled. "The last time, he has caught me unarmed. That will not happen again. Maybe he will come tomorrow, maybe he will come in a century, it matters not. I am prepared this time and there is no way that he is going to achieve his goals." For the first time tonight, his lips curled into his familiar, mischievous smirk. "He really should not have shared his plans with me. I am not called the god of mischief for nothing."

"But - but -" Emily struggled to build a coherent sentence, and she failed miserably.

"I know exactly what needs to be done, darling."

When she still looked at him with obvious fright in her eyes, Loki eyed her carefully. He hadn't told Thor about this yet, let alone anybody else - but now that he'd told Emily about everything that had happened, he could as well tell her about what was going to happen, too. She deserved to know, and there might very well come a time when she actually _needed_ to know.

"See, Thanos has told me many times that he would kill me if I failed him. And he promised me to be the one who does it, so he could enjoy every single second of my suffering until I would die from his very hands." Emily looked utterly terrified, so he quickly continued. "I will give him what he wants, or at least make him think so. I will make him believe that he defeated me, that he killed me, and I will return in the very moment when he least expects it. And then, little one, _I_ will be the one that kills _him_ , and I can tell you - _I will enjoy every single second of his suffering until he dies from my very hands._ "

Emily hesitated. "You're going to fake your death for him?"

Loki nodded. "The look of sheer surprise on his hideous face when he realizes that I am still alive might even be more rewarding than his following death." He smiled. "He will never be a god, but I am. And I will show him why this is going to make all the difference."

When Emily nodded slowly, still looking more worried than Loki had ever seen her before, he reached out for her and wiped away a fresh tear with his thumb.

"Let us go to sleep, little one. I am exhausted, and you must be too. Everything is going to be fine, I promise."

She looked up at him with a soft smile. "Okay. And - thank you for telling me about everything, Loki."

"Thank you for listening."

"Can I - can I snuggle up to you a bit?"

Loki's lips curled into a bright, warm smile that lit up his entire face. "Certainly, yes."

Emily carefully put her arm around Loki and placed her head on his bare chest, and he pulled her into a soft embrace while she breathed in deeply and closed her eyes, comforted and safe in Loki's arms.

"I wish I could protect you somehow", she murmured quietly, and Loki let his hands run through her pink hair.

He had never told her, but ever since he'd met Emily, he had rarely suffered from his nightmares anymore, and it hadn't been until they had grown so close that he'd been able to finally retrieve the strength and courage that he had thought to have lost a long time ago. The truth was, he had been convinced that he would never survive another encounter with Thanos - but in these last months on Midgard, something inside of him had changed. He couldn't say what exactly it was that had changed, all that he knew was that he had slowly begun to hope again - and at this very moment, with Emily lying in his arms, he not only hoped that he might be able to survive and, even more importantly, defeat Thanos, no, he was certain - he _knew_ that he would live, he knew that Thanos wouldn't, and he knew that one day, everything was going to be alright.

"You already do, min sváss", he whispered, and even though Emily wasn't sure what he wanted to say with that and had absolutely no clue what the strange asgardian word meant that he had just used, she lifted her head, planted a soft kiss on his cheek and nuzzled into his chest again.

It didn't take them long to drift off to sleep - deep sleep, calm and peaceful and without any nightmares at all.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'min sváss' is old norse for 'my beloved'.


	30. Make A Move

"Would you mind if I turned on some music?"  
  
Loki was sitting on his desk, trying to decipher a map of the place the Avenger's next mission would lead him to, and he looked up with a frown when he heard Emily's voice.

"As much as I would like to remind you of the fact that it is ridiculous to refer to the infernal noises you tend to listen to as music - at this moment I would rather remind you that I have told you repeatedly to consider this your home in which you are free to do as you wish."

Emily looked at him as if she needed a second to process what he'd just said before she gave him a sheepish smile.

"I know, but it's still -"

"No 'buts', little one. Turn on some music, paint the walls pink, get a pet snake if you so wish."

She laughed out. "A pet snake? I might think about that."

Loki smiled, but he eyed her thoughtfully while doing so. Emily had been living with him for a few weeks now; she had settled in very quickly and truth be told, Loki was staggered by how well she was coping with everything that had happened.

Natasha had taken her to a support group for victims - or survivors, as Natasha preferred to call them - of domestic violence a while ago, and while Emily had been insecure and nervous about it at first, she had quickly warmed towards the idea of going there after her first few meetings. She was quiet and pensive whenever she returned from there, and Loki had quickly learned that she always needed some space afterwards to think about everything she'd heard.

But apart from these few hours every week and her occasional nightmares, she usually seemed to be as cheerful and lighthearted as ever - she obviously enjoyed to be able to fully concentrate on her job, she continued Loki's self defence lessons and spent the biggest part of her free time with him, too, and whenever he'd ask her how she was faring, she assured him that she was doing just fine.

They were growing closer to each other with every passing day, too, though everything stayed strictly platonic between them - which, of course, shouldn't bother Loki. But it did. And that perturbed him greatly.

The morning after his nightmare a few weeks ago he had realized with astonishment that he had actually called her 'my beloved' in old norse, and while spending a considerable amount of his time trying his best to ignore the warmth that was spreading inside of his chest - and sometimes, a little further down - whenever she smiled at him, touched him or nuzzled into him at night, it was slowly becoming harder and harder for him to hide the truth from himself. He still tried not to think about it too much; it was futile, anyways - there was no way he'd risk his friendship with Emily only because of his inappropriate feelings.

Over the last few weeks, there had even been times that he'd found himself wondering if there might be any way for them to deepen their relationship, to actually become more than friends one day, but his thoughts have always been met with a feeling of vague, but firm resistance that he couldn't quite explain to himself. It wasn't just his reluctance about confessing to his emotions and the dangerous vulnerability this confession would entail, and it wasn't solely the fact that Emily was a mortal being, either; it was something else, something that didn't feel right to him and that was keeping him in a state of uneasiness even though he couldn't really put a finger on it. It was something about the way Emily kept asking him for permission everytime she wanted to listen to music, watch TV or just bake something that gave him this gnawing sensation of apprehension. Sometimes, Loki caught a fleeting glimpse of something strange and cautious in her expression when she looked at him, too, even though it was gone in mere seconds whenever his gaze met hers.

Maybe she was simply getting tired of his permanent company. He'd always had a hard time believing that a woman like Emily would enjoy spending time with him, and it was probably ludicrous to believe that there was any reason at all for her to ever see even more in him than just a friend.

Right now, she smiled at him, left the room and turned on her noisy music at a low volume, proceeding with rummaging through his kitchen utensils.

Loki sighed. He had been puzzling his head over all this for a while now, and it was starting to annoy him; he was spinning around in circles and there was still no end in sight. Taking a deep breath, he returned his attention to the map in front of him, and he shook his head, letting out another exasperated sigh. It was hopeless, really; he simply couldn't read Stark's illegible scrawling. He picked up the map and rose from his desk.

"I am going to see Stark", he told Emily, "If he wants me to join this mission, he needs to give me a map with properly written instructions on it."

Emily grinned. "Good luck with that."

Mere seconds after Loki had left the apartment, just as he reached the elevator, he could very clearly hear Emily's music become much louder than it had been before.

And it was in this very moment that he finally realized what the nagging feeling was about that has been bothering him so much lately.

 

 

* * *

 

 

"So you've already had enough of her, huh?"

Tony's voice sounded angry, but it was nothing compared to the look of fury that was showing on Loki's face now.

"That is not the point, and if you ever dare to say that again, you will regret it."

"Then tell me what the point is."

Loki huffed. "That is none of your concern, Stark, and I am not going to answer to you."

Tony crossed his arms. "I swear, Casanova, if you're going to dump her like some piece of trash -"

The god of mischief planted himself in front of Tony and shot him a venomous glare. "If you ever call her that again, Stark, you will not be able to call anyone anything ever again in your pathetic life."

"Calm down, honey, will you? I'm just trying to figure out why you'd want to kick Emily out of your apartment if not to dump her."

Loki rolled his eyes. "As far as I understand the concept of 'dumping' someone, you would have to be with that person first, anyways."

Tony huffed. "Yeah, right, I forgot that you're just _friends_."

For a moment, Loki remained silent.

"I believe that it would increase her self-confidence if she had her own apartment, that is all", he said eventually.

"Then why don't you just tell her that?"

Rolling his eyes again, Loki started to pace up and down in Tony's office. "This whole idea is about showing her that she is not dependent on me. Telling her that I asked you to grant her an apartment would not exactly be subtle, would it?"

Tony shrugged. "I have no idea what you're talking about, but fine. She's entitled to an accomodation in the Tower anyways, it's part of her contract."

Loki's face lit up. "Excellent! You will remind her of that and ask her if she would prefer moving into her own apartment. But you will not tell her that it was me who asked you to do this, do you understand?"

"Ohh, I get all tingly when you're so dominant, honey", Tony said, fluttering his eyelashes at Loki, his hands pressed against his heart. He grinned when Loki shot him a warning glare. "I still feel like I'm assisting you in dumping her, though", he muttered a second later, and Loki growled.

"I am _not_ dumping her. It is quite the opposite, actually."

"That didn't even make sense. But fine. Think you can stand having her around for another night or do I have to talk to her right now? - Relax, that was a joke! I'll tell her tomorrow in our meeting."

"Very well. Speaking of tomorrow - write me another map with instructions one can actually decipher, will you?"

Before Tony could reply, Loki was gone.

 

 

* * *

 

 

"Uh, Emily, there's something else I wanted to talk to you about."

Tony and Emily had just brought their daily meeting to an end, or so Emily had thought. At his words, she looked up at Tony with clear anxiousness on her face.

"Don't look at me like that!" Tony chuckled, "I'm not gonna bite you or something."

"Well, when did you ever have a nice little chitchat after somebody's told you that he needed to talk to you?" Emily replied, and Tony grinned.

"Fair point. No, really, it's nothing serious. It's just that - I know you're living with Frosty now, and I've been wondering if you're comfortable with that?"

Emily frowned. "This is not about how he's a dangerous villain again now, is it?"

Tony laughed out. "Nah, I think we're way beyond that. No, it's just - well, I'm not sure you know about that, but according to your employment contract, you are entitled to move into your own apartment here."

She raised her eyebrows. "What?"

"Most jobs here are quite time-consuming, and considering that this is a huge building with a lot of empty rooms, I've included an accommodation clause in every employment contract."

Emily stared at him. "You mean I could have an apartment here in the Tower? For myself?"

"Yeah."

For a second, Emily blinked at him, a blank expression on her face. Then her entire face lit up. "Oh my god, _yes!_ That would be amazing! Wow, Tony, I don't even know what to say!"

Tony grinned. "I had a feeling that you'd like to have some safety gap between you and Frosty from time to time."

In an instant, Emily's face fell. Tony frowned.

"What's wrong?"

Emily shook her head slowly. "I - It's just - it's Loki. If _you_ think that he's the reason for me to move into my own apartment, don't you think that Loki would be thinking the same - and that he'd be - I don't know - a little hurt?"

Tony had to suppress a grin. He had no idea what this whole apartment affair was about, but the way these two were constantly worrying about each other's feelings was adorable - especially since he'd spent most of his time around Loki thinking that he didn't have any in the first place.

"Well, _is_ Loki the reason you want to move into your own apartment?"

With wide eyes, Emily shook her head. "No, of course not! I love living with him! It's just -" She fell silent for a moment and bit her lip before she looked at Tony again. "I didn't have my own apartment before I moved in with Nick, you know. And I always felt so - so - guilty about that - I felt as if I was at his mercy the entire time. And I know that Loki is nothing like him and that he'd never treat me like this, but - I've just been thinking so much about everything that's happened lately, and I've started wondering if it's really a good idea to basically move from one man's apartment into another man's apartment."

Emily had been pondering over this for a while now, but she had not dared to talk about it with anyone yet. She had considered to bring her concerns up in one of the meetings of the support group she had joined, but while she found it surprisingly helpful to hear of others' experiences and coping strategies, she was still having trouble to talk about herself and hadn't been able to work up the courage to mention her worries about her current housing situation yet. Sometimes she had been wondering if she should just talk to Loki about it, and he had caught her a few times when she'd been gazing at him, buried in her thoughts, anxiously trying to imagine his possible reaction to her fears. Would he be hurt? Disappointed? Or worse, angry? He kept asking her if everything was alright, then, and Emily always hurried to nod and smile at him.

Her insecurity had slowly started to eat her up from the inside, which was probably why she had just burst out with it in front of her boss - which was, as she suddenly realized, more than inappropriate, no matter how well they were getting along.

"God, I'm sorry, Tony, I shouldn't have - I didn't mean to -"

Tony huffed. "Please, I can't count the times you've given me relationship advices; Pepper would probably not even talk to me anymore if it wasn't for you. I'm more than happy to return the favour." He eyed her thoughtfully. "So, does Loki know about this? I mean, about how you were feeling with Nick?"

When Emily nodded, he smiled. So that was the reason for Loki's request to offer Emily her own apartment. This guy never failed to surprise him lately.

"Then tell him the same thing you've just told me. I'm sure he's gonna approve of this." A sudden thought struck him, and he beamed at Emily. "And you know what, there's an empty apartment right next to Loki's. You wouldn't be far from each other, then." When Emily blushed, he winked at her. "Even better - once you're finally going to admit how deeply in love you two are, you can just literally tear down the wall between you and enjoy having a big sweet love nest with plenty of room for little Lokis and Emilys."

Emily's cheeks were crimson now and she started to splutter. "What the - why would you - there's no - I -"

Again, Tony winked at her. "Come on now. You two can't possibly be so blind. I understand that you needed some time, Em, but - there's this - damn, I'm just gonna say it,  _surprisingly decent_ god who'd do anything for you, and he's swooning over you. Don't wait too long."

Emily gaped at him. "You - why - _swooning over me?_ "

"Oh holy shit, come on! You didn't notice?"

"I - no - Tony, he's a _god!_ I mean, _look_ at him! Then look at _me!_ What could he possibly see in me?"

Tony furrowed his brows. "What are you talking about? You're an amazing woman, Emily! Loki would be lucky to have you - as a matter of fact, I think he'd be overjoyed to have you."

Emily eyed him warily, shaking her head, and Tony smirked.

"So that's the problem? You think you're, what, like not worthy to lift him? And I kinda have a feeling that he thinks the same about himself. Wow, this is like highschool all over again. You should seriously have a little talk with each other, because I'm sure as hell not going to run over to him and ask him if he wants to be with you."

"C'mon, stop that", Emily muttered, utterly embarrassed, and Tony shook his head.

"You like him, don't you?"

"Of course I like him."

Tony rolled his eyes. "No, I mean, you _like_ him."

Emily's cheeks were burning by now. "I - I - that's - I don't know what -"

He patted her shoulder with a smirk. "Just think about it. You deserve some happiness, Em. And I didn't think that I would ever say that, but I feel like you could find it with Romeo."

"But - that can't - I can't -"

Tony gave her a soft smile. "You can, Em. You have every reason to be careful allowing somebody to come near you again, but if there's one man you can trust with that, it's Loki. Uh - just don't tell him that I ever said that."

Emily let out a nervous chuckle.

"Move into that apartment, Em. I bet once you have your very own home, you're going to feel a lot more confident and secure, and maybe then you'll have the courage to make a move on Romeo, too."

Tony suppressed a smirk. Somehow, he suspected that he wasn't the first person in this tower who had come up with that idea.

 

 

* * *

 

 

"Do not play with it, you stupid thing! Chase it! _Kill_ it!"

Emily had just entered Loki's apartment, and she frowned when she saw him kneeling on the floor of his living room with Nolan sitting beside him, who was eyeing the irritated god with an indignant look in his eyes.

"You are a pathetic predator", Loki mumbled, and Emily couldn't help but laugh.

"Is this about teaching him how to catch a mouse again?"

Loki turned around, shaking his head. "It is futile. He will never learn."

When Emily approached Loki and Nolan, her eyes widened. There was a little grey mouse sitting right in front of Nolan, who nudged it lazily from time to time.

"My god, Loki!" she squeaked, "Did you bring him a _mouse?_ "

Loki shrugged. "How else would he learn how to catch them?"

"Oh my god, that poor little thing!"

She quickly knelt down beside Loki, leaned forwards and carefully picked up the mouse.

"Wonderful", Loki muttered, "Now I taught my mortal how to catch a mouse instead of my cat."

"Loki, that's cruel! He could have hurt her!"

Loki shook his head. "No, he could not, that is the problem. Relax, Emily, this is only an illusion."

He waved his hand and the mouse dissolved into green mist. Emily, slightly disappointed, looked at her suddenly empty hands for a second before she tilted her head to the side and gave Loki an amused look.

"Wait, did you just call me _'your mortal'_?"

Loki raised his eyebrows. "Oh - I - I might have, yes."

"So what, am I your mortal pet?"

The god was relieved to see nothing but amusement on Emily's face.

"I would never dare to call you so", he smirked, "But now that you said it yourself -"

Emily slapped his chest. Then she smirked. "So that's how a god spends his time when nobody's around? Conjuring up mice to teach cats how to chase them?"

Loki, still sitting on the ground, leant back against the table behind him, his legs wide apart. "I sense that you are amused."

"Slightly, yeah."

Loki huffed as he stood up from the floor. "You should be more grateful, for your god has also spent his time cooking a delicious meal that he generously allows you to consume."

Emily snorted. "My god?"

With a smug smirk, Loki winked at her. "If you are my mortal, then I am your god."

"Yeah, you wish", Emily muttered and walked into the kitchen. "Wow, that smells amazing. Are you still hungry?"

"I am indeed", Loki replied.

He had not eaten anything of his own meal yet, actually, but he didn't tell her - he was suddenly slightly afraid that she might think it a bit strange that he had been waiting for her to come home.

When they were sitting at the table with their plates in front of them, Emily couldn't help but grin.

"You know, I bet a lot of people would find it really entertaining to see you all domestic like this. I bet we could make a successful reality soap out of it."

Loki raised his eyebrows. "A reality soap?"

"Yeah, that's when celebrities film everything they do all day, you know, to show their fans how they live. I bet we'd make a fortune!"

"Why do your plans to make a fortune always include making a fool out of me?"

Emily giggled. "Sorry."

"Why not make a fool out of Thor or Stark instead? It would be much easier, too, considering they are fools by nature -"

When Emily's eyes widened and her face lit up, Loki knew that he'd made a mistake.

"Oh god, yes! That's brilliant! We'll film all of you! People are gonna love this! We can call it _'Meet the Avengers'_ \- we'd seriously make a fortune!"

Slightly amused, Loki shook his head. "I would rather pay you a fortune if you promise me never to mention this idea again. Especially not in front of Stark. He might actually consider doing this."

"You think?"

"He keeps accosting me about how I need to show Midgard that I am - what did he call it - a _decent guy_."

The way he said it, it sounded like an insult, and Emily grinned.

"Well, it would probably help if people saw you playing with your cat."

He shot her an indignant look. "I did not _play_ with him, I tried to teach him how to _kill_."

"Yeah, um - don't say that in front of our audience, please."

Loki chuckled, and they both sat in silence for a while until Emily cleared her throat.

"Um, Loki? There's something I wanted to talk to you about."

She eyed him nervously and Loki frowned.

"Yes?"

"Well - it's just that - Tony - he's told me that, uh, technically, I could - I mean, if I wanted to - I could have my own apartment in here."

Loki raised his eyebrows in feigned surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah, it's part of my contract - I wouldn't even have to pay for it -"

"That sounds good, does it not?"

He watched Emily, irritated when he could hear her let out a relieved breath that sounded as if a huge weight had just been taken off her mind.

"Yes", she said, "Yes, I thought so, too."

Loki eyed her questioningly. "Why have you been so tense if you think that this is a good idea?"

Emily blushed. "Oh - nothing - I just didn't -"

With narrowed eyes, Loki tilted his head to the side. "Have you been scared to tell me?"

"No, not scared - well yes, maybe just a bit." She gave him a hopeful smile. "So you'd be cool with that?"

Again, Loki frowned. "Have you been scared that I would not approve of that?"

Emily lowered her gaze guiltily. "Well, I didn't want you to think - that - that I don't like living with you or something in the way - because I do, I really do. But I just thought that, with everything that has happened - it might be better - if I lived in my own apartment for now."

Loki nodded firmly. "I understand that, and I agree. But - Emily, if I had told you that I did not like the idea of you moving into your own apartment - you would have done it anyways, would you not?"

She hesitated, fiddling with her sleeves, before she muttered, "Yeah, sure."

Loki could sense that that was not entirely true, and he eyed her thoughtfully. It certainly took a lot to turn a person into someone who instinctively ignored her own needs to fulfill the wishes of others instead, and his stomach was churning everytime he noticed how Emily put other people's needs above her own without even thinking twice.

That was one of the reasons he had asked Stark for an apartment that Emily could live in. He didn't want her to ask if she was allowed to do the things she wanted to do anymore; he didn't want her to feel dependent on anyone anymore. He'd remembered the excitement in her face when she had told him about the apartment that she'd used to live in, and he had a feeling that this was exactly what she needed right now - her very own home that she could do as she pleased with without ever worrying about anybody else.

And there was something else that she'd once told him about, something that had been scratching and biting at his mind for the past weeks and that he just hadn't been able to grasp until yesterday. But Emily had been helped by a man before. She had been offered to move into a man's apartment to get out of a difficult situation before, she had grown close to said man before and in the end, she had stayed with this man until she'd fallen in love with him, more or less because he had been the only one who'd been there to help and comfort her.

And Loki didn't want to be that man.

If Emily could ever see more in him, he wanted it to happen of her own volition. Not because she felt committed to him, not because he was the only one around and certainly not out of gratitude or appreciation because he had been there for her.

Yes, he would be missing her, especially at night - he found it exceedingly soothing to have her lie next to him, often cuddled up against him, and he had never slept better than he did when he was holding Emily in his arms - but he had the distinct feeling that having her own home, her own haven, her own life was of particular importance right now - for both herself and their relationship.

"I think it is a great idea", he said firmly when he realized that Emily was still looking at him insecurely, "And if you ever feel lonely, you can still come here anytime, after all."

Emily smiled. "Actually, Tony said that there's an apartment right next to yours that I could have - so we'd be neighbours."

Loki smirked, trying to hide the fact that his heart was leaping with joy at this new information. "Then it would seem that there is no escape from me, little one."

"That's very fortunate; I don't even want to escape you, anyways."

"When are you going to move in?"

Emily shrugged. "I haven't really thought about that yet - I'm going to need a few things, first - furniture, and other stuff, and oh - I'm gonna need wall paint so I can finally paint some walls pink!"

Loki grinned at Emily's enthusiasm. "Do I want to know the colour of your furniture?"

"Probably not."

Loki groaned with feigned exasperation, and Emily giggled.

"God, it's going to look hilarious when you come over to visit me and have to sit on a pink plushy couch. And I _need_ that couch. Oh damn, I need a TV, too, so we can watch movies at my home!" She frowned. "Shit, I'm going to need a lot of money, first." Before Loki could even say a word, she exclaimed, "See, it's time for _'Meet the Avengers'!_ "

Loki chuckled. "Calm down, little one. I am quite sure that you will not be moving into an empty apartment; this is Stark's building, after all. When I moved in here, the television has already been in here, just like the desk and the wardrobes and the kitchen with all its equipments. There has been more furniture in here, too, but it has not been to my liking. I sent it to Muspelheim to burn to ashes."

When Emily gaped at him, he smirked. "That was on my very first day here. My mood may have been a bit sulky."

"I guess I'm lucky I didn't meet you back then", Emily grinned.

"Oh, I do remember being in a very grim mood on the day we have met, too."

"Really?" Emily furrowed her brows. "I thought you were nice."

The god chuckled. "Nice? There really is something wrong with you."

Emily shrugged and stole a piece of cheese from Loki's plate before she casually said, "That's why you love me, right?"

It had only been a casual remark without any deeper meaning of any kind, and right after saying it, Emily was already concentrating all of her attention on stealing more of Loki's food from his plate again, which was the reason she didn't notice the way Loki's face had changed at her words.

But he looked at her for a very long moment before he replied with a soft voice and the ghost of an affectionate smile on his lips:

"Yes, that is exactly why I love you."

 

 

 


	31. It Doesn't Matter What You Are

Love.

He had actually told her that he _loved_ her.

It had not been a serious conversation, and he knew that Emily hadn't attached any value to his statement, but still - _he had told her that he loved her._

Loki shook his head. As soon as he had said it, he'd wanted to take it back. He had quickly changed the subject, but even now, the word was still echoing in his mind.

_Love._

Even over the last weeks he had never actually addressed his feelings for her as love. He cared for Emily, yes. He liked her, he trusted her more than he'd ever have thought possible, he appreciated her company, he enjoyed spending time with her and he even felt a certain physical attraction to her - but _love..._

Truth be told, he doubted severely that he was even capable of such emotions. It was common knowledge that frost giants were callous, stone-hearted beings with no compassion or love for each other or anybody else, and he was certainly no exception to that rule. What in the nine realms had made him say this word out loud, then?

He shook his head again, and this time, Emily stirred in her sleep.

They had gone to bed two hours ago, and just like every night, Emily had nuzzled up to him only minutes after falling asleep. She always apologized for that in the morning, and Loki always told her that he didn't mind - he never told her that her snuggling up to him was actually the most wonderful thing that he had ever experienced and that he often fought his tiredness to stay awake just a little longer so he could enjoy holding her for a while.

Her head was lying on his shoulder, her arm wrapped around his bare chest, and his unconscious head-shaking had startled her from her sleep.

"Everythin' alright?" she mumbled sleepily, and Loki smiled into the darkness.

"Yes, everything is alright."

"D'you have a nightmare?"

"No, darling. I was just thinking."

"'Bout what?"

Loki sighed. "Nothing in particular. Just worrying about this and that."

Emily ran her hand through his hair, which she knew he found soothing, and indeed, he closed his eyes and let out another, much more relaxed, sigh.

"Stop worrying, little lambkin. I'm not _really_ going to turn you into a reality soap star."

Loki chuckled. "What about 'Meet the Avengers'?"

He could feel her smile against his shoulder.

"I changed my mind about that. If you become too popular, you won't have time to cook for your mortal anymore. I don't wanna risk that."

They were both grinning, and Loki tightened the embrace he was holding Emily in.

"You don't wanna talk about it, hm?" Emily said eventually, and Loki sighed.

"Not tonight. Maybe someday."

"I'll be here, then."

Without thinking about it, Loki planted a kiss on Emily's head. "I know."

Her breathing evened a few minutes later, and almost at the same time, Loki finally drifted off to sleep, too.

 

 

* * *

 

  
Natasha and Bruce had left for a mission a week ago and Thor had taken a few days off to spend some time with Jane, who wasn't too happy about the amount of time her boyfriend had been spending on Asgard lately, and so it was just Tony, Clint, Steve, Loki and Emily in the weekly Avengers meeting the next day.

They were planning a trip to Germany; Natasha and Bruce had managed to discover one of the last Hydra outposts there and had called for a back-up, and while they were staying near the outpost to spy out the surroundings, Tony and the others were supposed to think of a plan of attack they could carry out as soon as Nat and Bruce would have gathered enough informations about their target.

For the last two hours, they had been discussing the plan Tony had come up with. Emily had kept the minutes of their discussion and, whenever there was another one of the very frequent disputes arising between the men, switched to shopping websites to look for furniture, just as she had done for the last few minutes. She flinched when she suddenly heard Tony call her name.

"Uh, sorry, what?"

"I asked for your opinion on that last part."

Emily blushed. She had just discovered an amazing three-piece suite in an online shop - shocking pink with light pink flowers printed all over it - and she hadn't been listening to the men's bickering anymore.

"I - I think - I think that all of you have a really good point, and - I - I haven't been listening."

Loki gave Emily an amused look and Tony raised his eyebrows.

"You haven't been listening?"

"Sorry, Tony."

Tony rolled his eyes. "For how long haven't you been listening?"

Emily sighed. "I think I zoned out when Loki asked you if you could, for once, come up with a plan that would not force him to save all of your petty lives in the end, to which you replied that he's free to come up with something himself as long as it doesn't involve you having to fly into a hole in the sky to save New York from a nuclear device, and then Loki told you that New York would have been better off if you'd have just stayed in that hole, to which you replied that he'd certainly be missing his drinking buddy dreadfully, and then Loki said -"

Tony cut in. "Okay, okay, I get it. We're insufferable."

"Worse than little children", Emily agreed.

Loki was still grinning, clearly enjoying the conversation, and Clint and Steve both tried not to laugh out.

"Alright", Tony muttered, "I get your point. And what have you been doing instead of listening to us being insufferable?"

"I've been googling couples counseling."

Tony and Loki both scowled at this while Clint and Steve lost their fight against their urge to laugh out.

"No, to be honest, I was looking for furniture. Sorry. What did I miss?"

Clint shook his head. "Nothing, really. Just more squabbling between Ernie and Bert."

Tony frowned. "Hey, giving nicknames is my job, Katniss. But fine, maybe we should just finish for today. Bruce said that they won't need us in Germany until next week, anyways, so we still have a little time to come up with a finishing touch for our plan."

"Great", Steve said, and Clint nodded.

"Maybe Marilyn Manson here can add a few of his ideas, too", Tony added sourly, and Loki rolled his eyes.

"Marilyn Manson? Really? You used to be more creative, Stark. It is slightly disappointing if you just resort to giving me the names of every black-haired midgardian that pretends to be dark and evil."

Tony looked flabbergasted. "Why the hell do you even know who that is?"

Loki smirked. "I am a good student."

"What?"

Emily laughed. "He really is. I've been giving him lessons in midgardian culture. Hey, you'll get a treat for knowing who Manson is", she added proudly, grinning at Loki, and Tony gaped at her.

"Lessons in _what?_ "

"Midgardian culture. I wrote him a few lists with books and bands that he has to check out and we've been watching all the classic movies together."

Steve gave Loki a curious look. "Did you already listen to these Beatles? I don't really know what the fuss is about -"

Loki shrugged. "I did not, but anything is better than the noise of AC/DC, I assume."

"Whoa!" Tony and Emily said simultaneously, and Loki rolled his eyes.

"Maybe you should admit Yoko Ono as a student, too", Tony muttered, and Steve's eyes lit up.

"I understood that reference!"

"Congratulations", Tony sighed while Emily gave her best not to laugh.

"Well, Steve, you're very welcome", she said, "We're going to watch 'Titanic' tonight -"

Both Tony and Clint had just taken a gulp of coffee, and they both choked on it at Emily's words.

"You're going to _what?_ "

Emily grinned, looking very pleased with herself. "It was Loki's choice."

Clint and Tony stared at Loki in disbelief.

The god shrugged. "The title sounded promising." He narrowed his eyes. "Why, what -"

Tony glanced at Emily before his gaze settled on Loki again. "You have no idea what the movie's about, have you?"

Emily shook her head frantically behind Loki and tried to give Tony a sign to shut up, but he chose to blatantly ignore her. Loki frowned.

"Emily said that it is a movie about a titanical disaster that is based upon actual events. Emily, you are aware that I can see your reflection in the window?"

She froze, and Tony gave her an amused look.

"A titanical disaster, indeed. That is a most accurate description of that movie."

"Nah, don't listen to him", Clint smirked, "You'll love it. My wife made me watch it three times. Only vomited the first two, though."

"Shut up now", Emily growled, "Don't corrupt my student."

Loki still eyed her warily. "Is there anything I should know about this movie?"

"No", Emily replied sweetly, "Not at all."

"Is this movie about the _ship_ Titanic?" Steve suddenly cut in with an excited expression on his face, "I knew I'd heard the name before!"

Tony rolled his eyes, letting out an exhausted sigh, while Clint gave Steve a thumbs up.

"Well, anyways", Emily said, "You're welcome to join us, Steve."

Neither Emily nor Loki noticed Tony mouthing "I dare you to join them" in Steve's direction.

"Uh - yeah, m-maybe next time, I'm - I already have plans tonight", the poor Steve stuttered, glancing at Tony, who nodded contentedly.

When Tony caught Loki's suspicious gaze, he gave him a smile. "Well, off you go then! Have a nice evening, you two!"

Emily frowned. "It's early afternoon, Tony. I'm not even halfway done with -"

"Ah, just call it a day. Maybe you two can have one of your self defence lessons before you get all comfy and cuddly with Jack and Rose."

Emily gave him an admonishing glare, and Tony chuckled in response.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

 

 

* * *

 

 

"You tricked me", Loki said accusingly while Emily tried to secretly wipe away the tears that were running down her cheeks. "This movie was not at all what I have been expec - what is wrong?"

His tone had become concerned, and Emily sniffled.

"Nothing, it's just - the movie -"

Loki stared at her. "You are crying because of a _movie?_ "

"Well, it _is_ based on actual events!" Emily tried to defend herself, "Not the love story in particular, of course, but the - the whole tragedy - you know, how they treated the people from the third class and - and these musicians really did play until the very end -"

Loki hummed a little helplessly.

Emily chuckled. "Sorry. I'm a girl, after all. This movie always gets me." She sniffled again. "How did you like it?"

The god snorted. "The ending is highly unsatisfying. This person was a good and honourable man and he should have survived instead of that pathetic coward. And - "

He stopped when Emily grinned at his indignation.

"There has been more than enough space for him to lie on that wooden surface, anyways", he added sourly, and Emily giggled.

"Tell the screenwriter. That always pisses me off."

Loki looked at the TV.

"The woman should have take one of these tiny boats, really", he said eventually. "That was foolish."

Emily shrugged. "She didn't want to go without Jack. She'd rather have died with him than survive by leaving him behind."

"Foolish", Loki repeated with a huff.

Emily cocked her head to the side. "Wouldn't you do the same for someone you love?"

"I am incapable of love", Loki said without thinking, and Emily stared at him.

"What?"

Loki glanced at her and made a dismissive hand gesture. This had obviously slipped out of his mouth because he'd been thinking about it the previous night, but he had not intended to talk about it, especially not with Emily.

"It is not in the nature of frost giants to love", he stated eventually.

"But -" Emily said, but Loki interrupted her.

"There is no point in discussing this."

It had come out rather sharp, and Emily eyed him carefully.

"But I don't believe that", she said eventually and Loki gritted his teeth. Before he could say something, Emily added, "I know that you love your mother, for example."

"She is not my real mother", Loki replied sternly.

"That is not the point."

"Stop that, Emily. There is no point in denying what I am."

Emily's gaze still lingered on his face. "I'm not trying to deny what you are. I'm just trying to -"

"I know what you are trying to do. You are trying to convince me that I am more than just a monster, probably because you want to make me feel better or maybe because you would like to believe it yourself, but it is futile. I know what I am."

His voice was toneless, emotionless, but Emily could still hear the bitterness inside of it.

"Loki -"

"Stop it, Emily", he snapped, "Frost giants cannot love, they are incapable to be anything more than selfish monsters. You should accept that, just as I have. I know what I am, and I know what it makes me."

"But maybe you are wrong", she said carefully.

Loki gritted his teeth. "You have no idea what you are talking about."

Emily shrugged. "That's true. I have no idea what frost giants are and what they can and can't do. But I know _you_." She chose to ignore the look on Loki's face and went on. "There probably are frost giants who are selfish monsters, but there are humans who are selfish monsters, too."

"That is something different."

"Why? If there are different personalities among humans, why shouldn't there be different personalities among any other race, too?"

Loki was feeling more and more annoyed by this conversation. Emily noticed, but for once, she didn't back off.

"You didn't know about your origins most of your life; did you ever question your ability to love back then?"

"I have never truly loved anyone", Loki said sternly, "The women and men I've been with never meant much to me."

"That's not the only kind of love", Emily countered, "What about your mother? What - what about me?"

Loki froze and glanced at her. "You?"

Emily blushed. "Yeah, well, I mean - we love our friends, too, don't we? Why would you have done all the things you've done for me if not out of love for a friend?"

He didn't reply.

"Got you there, huh?" Emily said softly, and Loki huffed. "So - if the two of us would have been on the Titanic, and you could have saved yourself by leaving me behind - would you have left?"

Loki's gaze flickered over Emily's face. He didn't even have to think about it. There was no way he'd have left her behind to die, and Emily knew that very well.

"See", she said, but there was no triumph in her voice, only a kind of warmth that almost seemed to burn Loki's heart, "It doesn't matter _what_ you are, the only thing that matters is _who_ you are."

Loki was silent for a moment, trying to let her words sink in. When he glanced at her and saw a soft smile on her face, he cleared his throat that had become uncomfortably tight.

"If the two of us would have been on the Titanic, I would have mended the broken part of the ship with a flick of my wrist and nobody would have died."

Emily laughed. "Fair enough. Though, that only serves as another proof that you are really anything but a monster."

Loki remained silent, and Emily looked at him thoughtfully.

"You're _not_ a monster, Loki", she said quietly, "No monster would have done the things you have done for me."

Loki met her gaze and their eyes locked for a moment. Her words touched something inside of him, something he didn't quite understand, and he felt the sudden need to break the severity of the situation. He would think about her words, but not now, not while she was still around.

"I will make new popcorn", he said eventually, and Emily laughed out.

"That's another thing that monsters rarely do", she smirked, and Loki finally couldn't suppress a faint smile anymore.

"Cease your blabbering, now, you annoying little mortal. You have won."

 

 

* * *

 

 

"This is an abomination", Loki stated, "And you cannot expect me to ever sit on this."

Emily beamed at the couch that had just been delivered into her new apartment - she had decided to buy the giant, pink flowered one - and completely ignored Loki.

"Hey, what's up in - _holy shit._ "

Tony had just stepped into Emily's new apartment, and he was now gaping at her new piece of furniture with an expression of disbelief and mild disgust on his face.

"What _is_ this?"

"My new couch", Emily replied happily, and Tony frowned.

"But there was a couch in here, wasn't it?"

"Yeah", Emily said, a look of distaste crossing her face, "But it was _grey._ "

"I offered to send it to Muspelheim, but she insisted on keeping it around", Loki said, "It is in the empty room next to your office now."

Tony shook his head slowly. "Anything else that our Little Miss Sunshine had to replace with something more colourful? Wait - that's not the original wall colour, is it?"

Emily smirked. "Not exactly. Do you like it? Loki helped me paint it."

Snorting a little, Tony folded his hands as if praying. "Voldy painted your walls pink? Please tell me you took a picture of that?"

"Of course I did!"

Loki sighed. During the last few days, they had painted the walls - Emily had insisted on doing it without his seidr, and he was quite sure that the only reason for this was that she wanted to dribble pink colour all over him - and removed the pieces of furniture that had not been to Emily's liking like the couch, the lights and a few decorative items. She had decided to keep the rest of the furniture that was plain white and to just "posh them up" a bit - whatever that was supposed to mean, Loki had rather not deepened the subject.

She had also tricked him into accompanying her to a huge store named IKEA where she had been running from one rack to another, picking up bedclothes, towels, tableware, flower vases and, as Loki suspected, basically every decorative item in bright colours that she could possibly find. He had been reduced to pushing the hideous metal container that Emily had stored everything that she wanted to buy in (Loki had offered to just send everything straight into her apartment without the unnecessary inconvenience of paying for it, but she had not approved of the idea). She had also forced him to eat some disgusting looking but surprisingly delicious meatballs, and after a few very long hours she'd finally let him teleport them out of the store and back into her apartment (after she'd paid for everything, much to Loki's disapproval).

Tony and Clint had burst with laughter when he'd told them that he'd spent his day at IKEA, and Clint had slapped his back and said "Welcome in the boyfriend zone", but truth be told, Loki had not minded spending the day there. Emily had been overjoyed, and the bright smile on her face had been worth the embarrassing things he'd had to do for it. Loki had also found it quite entertaining to follow her through this ridiculously big store. After a while they had both noticed with amusement that other midgardians were occasionally eyeing Loki carefully before turning away with a slight shake of their heads - they had obviously decided that this man with the shopping cart full of pink items couldn't possibly be the intimidating Loki of Asgard and that the remarkable resemblance had to be nothing but a funny coincidence. To not 'blow his cover', as Emily had called it, she had refrained from calling him Loki, and instead addressed him as 'honey' or 'pookie'. He'd snorted whenever she'd called him like that, but it had actually given him a tingling sensation somewhere in his chest.

Ever since their conversation about his ability to love he had given his best not to think about his awkward feelings for Emily anymore. He wasn't stupid - he knew very well that he was going to have to face them eventually, but he was also stubborn enough to not admit this truth to himself yet.

"Well, Prince Charming", Tony said and brought Loki back to the here and now with his voice, "Are you comfortable with leaving your fairytale princess alone for a few days?"

Before Loki could even answer, Emily was smirking.

"I guess our prince here is over the moon that he finally gets to kick some asses again instead of being my interior decorator."

Loki, Tony and the rest of the Avengers were going to leave for their Hydra mission in Germany this evening, but actually, Loki wasn't over the moon at all. He was quite sure that he'd be missing Emily, and he was not keen on having to think about the reason for that, especially not while he was locked up with Stark, who had been frighteningly good at interpreting Loki's moods lately.

Besides, Loki was far from comfortable with leaving Emily alone, even though she had assured him that she didn't mind - she had planned to use their absence for what she called "decorating" and Tony called "disfeaturing" of her new rooms. They wanted to carry over all of her belongings as soon as Loki was back from the mission so she could finally move into her own home. Loki knew that she was thrilled about that, which was the only reason he didn't bitterly regret having come up with the idea - he was deeply saddened by the thought of having to live, eat and sleep without Emily by his side from then on.

Loki gave his best to hide his regret at the thought, but Tony suddenly gave him a knowing look that made him feel really uncomfortable. There it was again - the feeling that this damned Stark knew exactly what he had just been thinking about.

"I am certainly looking forward to an entertaining battle", he stated eventually, and Emily shook her head.

"Entertaining is the last word I'd think of if I had to describe a battle", she murmured and narrowed her eyes at Loki. "You're going to be careful though, aren't you?"

Tony slapped Emily's back. "Don't worry, your honey's basically invincible. Plus, his partner this time is going to be Bruce - if The Incredible Hulk and The Invincible Loki are fighting side by side, what can possibly go wrong?"

When Loki and Tony started to fight about whether 'The Invincible Loki' would be a befitting name for Loki if he ever was to join the Avengers - Loki obviously found it ridiculous, while Tony seemed to be overenthusiastic about his idea - Emily shook her head, torn between amusement and sincere concern about the safety of these men who were about to go to war while their behaviour truly rivaled every little child she'd ever seen in her life.

 

 


	32. A Little Push

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to say that I really really do appreciate every single comment I get!  
> I've been really busy in the last weeks, that's why I didn't manage to reply to all the comments yet and it will probably take me a few days to catch up with them, but I'm deeply honoured and grateful for everyone who's reading my stories, and every comment means so, so much to me. So I just want to say thank you for them, and I'm sorry it takes me a while to reply sometimes!

Natasha, Tony, Thor, Bruce, Clint and Steve looked exhausted when they walked through the door into the common room. Emily had already received a notification from JARVIS about their return - it was about time, she thought; they had been away for more than a week, and she had started to miss Loki dreadfully.

She was sitting at the table in the common room and she happily leaped to her feet when she heard the Avengers arrive. But when she looked at them, she frowned.

"Where's Loki?"

Tony snorted. "Yeah, hello too, Em. We're all fine, thank you, and our mission went great."

"I - I'm sorry, that's great - but -"

"Well, Loki is not so fine. Turns out he is not invincible after all."

Emily's heart missed a beat. "What?"

The rest of them was already sitting at the table, greedily gobbling down the cookies Emily had made earlier, and Tony was the only one still standing in front of her. He sighed.

"He got injured. He's upstairs in the infirmary."

Emily paled and Tony put a hand on her shoulder, suddenly looking serious.

"You might want to go see him, Em. He doesn't look good."

He didn't have to say another word - Emily was already bolting through the door and running up the stairs, not even waiting for the elevator. Tony's gaze followed her until she was out of sight, then, he sat down at the table with a smirk and took one of the chocolate chip cookies.

"Why the hell did you say that?" Bruce asked with a frown, "It's nothing serious, only a scratch for a guy like him."

Tony shrugged. "Yeah, well, they need a little push, don't they?"

Natasha rolled her eyes. "And your little push is to let her think he's _dying?_ "

"Well if that's not gonna open her eyes -"

"You're an ass", Nat muttered, and again, Tony shrugged.

"I told her nothing but the truth. He _got_ injured, he _is_ in the infirmary and he _does_ not look good - of course that's because he always looks like a modern version of Dracula, but well -"

"You're still an ass", Clint decided, shaking his head.

"If it takes an ass for them to get down to business, then I'm happy to play that part."

Thor, who had only been listening to their conversation with half his ear, lowered what must have been his sixth or seventh cookie.

"Business? What kind of business could my brother possibly have with Emily?"

Tony snatched the neglected cookie from Thor's hand and shook his head as he stuffed it into his mouth.

"Poor Jane, really. I knew this hammer is the only thing you can wield."

 

 

* * *

 

 

Emily's heart was hammering painfully in her chest. She couldn't even think straight; the only word that was echoing through her panicked mind was Loki's name. He couldn't be severely injured, he _couldn't_ -

She was panting when she finally reached the floor with the infirmary, and before she could even open the door to its outer office, she could hear Loki's snarling voice.

"I _dare_ you to put that inside of me, I will not let you envenom me with your petty midgardian poisons - you mortal fool, if you point this needle in my direction again, I shall put it into your - ow!"

Emily felt a wave of relief flowing through her when she heard Loki's voice. It couldn't be that bad if he was still talking and threatening people, right? Her chest tightened again when she imagined Loki being seriously hurt. She had to see him.

When she rushed through the door, she was stopped by a nurse.

"I'm sorry, Miss, but you can't go into the treatment room."

Emily frowned. "What? I have to, I -"

The nurse shook her head and pointed at the door. "The doctors have a patient in there -"

"I know, I need to see him right now!" Emily tried to dodge the woman, but she seemed determined not to let her pass. When she grabbed Emily's upper arm, Emily glared at her. "I'm serious, let me through!"

"No way! That's Loki of Asgard in there, he's dangerous!"

Emily snorted. "Yeah, trust me, he's not half as dangerous as I'm going to be if you won't let me go to him right fucking now!"

The nurse gaped at Emily who felt a tad guilty for her harsh tone, but still returned the woman's gaze firmly.

"Well then, go ahead", the nurse muttered.

Emily bolted through the door and stopped dead in her tracks.

Loki, who had been sitting on the hospital bed, surrounded by two doctors who looked utterly terrified, leaped to his feet and spread his arms when his eyes met Emily's. He had a ridiculously bright grin on his face.

"Darling, there you are! I _missed_ you! "

Emily gaped at him.

Loki raised his eyebrows. "What, do I not get a welcome back kiss?"

"I - what?" She eyed him carefully. He didn't look hurt at all. "Are you okay?"

Loki giggled, a sound that seemed so strange coming from him that Emily furrowed her brows in concern. He still had a bright smile on his face.

"I am _magnificent!_ "

When Emily opened her mouth and closed it again, utterly confused by his behaviour, one of the doctors glanced at her.

"Uh, we may have been a bit too generous with the morphine dose we've injected him; we weren't sure about -"

Loki waved his hand. He still had a bright smile on his face. "Fret not, midgardian healer, I feel wonderful!"

Emily eyed him. "Tony said you were injured -"

"Ah, it is just a scratch, my dear." He gestured at the two doctors. "Those fools have poisoned me when I was not fully awake yet, but by Valhalla, this venom does indeed do wonders to my divine body -"

Giving her best not to laugh, Emily shot the doctors a glare. "A _bit_ too generous?"

They looked slightly uncomfortable.

"He wasn't fully awake yet and we figured that he'd be in pain once he'd regain consciousness - the wound did look severe -"

"Severe?" Emily asked, the feeling of concern rushing through the haze of confusion and amusement again.

"Just a scratch", Loki repeated, "Come here, my favourite little mortal!"

"Shh, Loki - so? What about his wound?"

She looked at the doctors questioningly while Loki pouted at her silencing him.

"It's already healing on its own", the second doctor said, "We wanted to stitch it up, but he wouldn't allow it - and then it suddenly began to close on its own, I've never seen anything like that before!"

"Yes, I am indeed an impressive being", Loki babbled.

"He will be fine", the other doctor assured Emily, who let out a sigh of relief.

She could suddenly feel tears welling up in her eyes when the tension and fear left her body, and she finally walked up to Loki and hugged him tightly.

"God, Loki, I was really scared", she whispered against the skin of his neck, and Loki stroked over her hair.

"You smell amazing, did I ever tell you that?" he murmured and added, "And there is no reason at all to be scared."

Emily only let go of him when one of the doctors started talking.

"We will leave you alone now. Mr Friggason, if you require further treatments, you know where to find us."

"Yeah, when he needs his next shot I'm gonna call you", Emily snapped.

When the door closed behind the two doctors, Loki brushed a finger over her cheek.

"That was surprisingly rude. I never heard you talk like that before, except of course for the wonderful day you verbally castrated Fury and Odin."

"I never thought that you were dying before, either", Emily muttered.

Loki raised his eyebrows. "Dying? Who said I was dying?"

"Tony said -"

"Ah, the Iron Fool!" Loki chuckled and suddenly frowned before he added thoughtfully, "His armour is made out of titanium, mostly, so why exactly is he called Iron Man, anyways?"

Emily opened her mouth but closed it again when she realized that she really didn't know what she could possibly say to that.

"I will have to talk to him about that", Loki mused, "He should reconsider his choice of a name, he is at risk of making a fool out of himself. Even more so than usually, I should add."

"Yeah, do that", Emily said absent-mindedly, "So, the others didn't think that you were harmed severely?"

Loki returned his attention to Emily at this and shrugged. "No, else my foolish brother would have been here, I assume. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious", Emily muttered, taking a mental note to herself to let Tony suffer for this. "So what about your wound? Where is it?"

"My chest", Loki said cheerfully, "I got stabbed. But it is fine", he added when he saw the expression on Emily's face.

"How is it fine when you've got stabbed?"

Loki smirked and spread his arms again. "Because I am -" he made a meaningful pause before he bowed his head and continued talking with a deep and solemn voice, " _The Invincible Loki!_ "

Emily couldn't stifle a chuckle but quickly became stern again. "You're not invincible, the doctor said you were unconscious!"

"Oh, I barely closed my eyes for a second to focus on my healing - and these fools with their magical potion seized the opportunity, they put a needle inside of me and sent their potion through it before I could stop them - but it is a splendid potion, really! I did not know you had such things on this pitiful realm - do you want some of the potion, too, darling?"

Emily sighed. "It's not a potion, it's a drug - they use it when someone is in great pain - _are_ you in great pain?"

Loki smiled boyishly. "I have suffered worse. Hey", he suddenly said, "You know why these mortal healers left, do you not?"

"Because I pissed them off?"

Loki chuckled. "No, not at all. They decided to give us some privacy in case you want to reward your injured hero."

Emily almost choked. "I - what?"

The god smirked suggestively at her. "Well, it is tradition on Asgard to welcome an injured warrior home with, for example, a kiss -"

"Yeah, keep dreaming", Emily snorted. When Loki pouted, she smirked. "You forget that we're on Earth. Here, we welcome an injured warrior home with flowers and maybe some ice cream."

"I do appreciate the ice cream, but can I exchange the flowers for the aforementioned kiss?"

Emily couldn't help but giggle. "Be serious, Loki. Could you please tell me about your injury now?"

"I told you, my sweet worried mortal, it is nothing but a scratch."

Not convinced, Emily furrowed her brows. "Take off your shirt, please."

A smirk graced Loki's face. "Do I get rewarded after all?"

Emily blushed. "Shut up, I just want to see your injury!"

"Did you just tell your god to shut up? The _nerve_ of you!"

"Stop calling yourself my god", Emily giggled, "You are so not -"

Loki gave her a smug grin. "Do you want me to show you how very befitting my title is?"

"Seriously, Loki?" Emily gave her best to hide her amusement and sound indignant instead.

Loki made a bow. "I apologize, mylady", he purred, "I meant no disrespect. Would you like to - punish me for my misbehaviour?" His voice and his grin had become downright dirty at his last words.

Emily shook her head, but again, she couldn't help but snort with laughter. "No, you randy old devil! I would like to check on your injury, because I have a little trouble to trust your judgment right now!"

Loki looked quite shocked. "I am not _old_ , it is only in your ridiculous midgardian life span that anyone could possibly call me such!"

"That's the only word that offends you, huh?" Emily chuckled before she shot Loki a glare. "Stop distracting me now, I want to know how badly you're inju- Loki - stop that!"

She broke into a fit of giggles when the god clasped his hands behind his head and started swaying his hips.

"You are a mere mortal woman, my dear, you will not be able to resist a god like me -" Loki crooned, dancing towards Emily, and she couldn't deny that she was actually beginning to lose focus. He couldn't be severely injured anyways, right, the way he's moving? God, the way he's _moving_ -

"Do you remember that you once called me a gorgeous, half-naked god?" Loki purred, and Emily's cheeks turned crimson.

"Vaguely."

Loki smiled. "I liked that."

"I bet you did."

Still smirking at her, Loki cocked his head and looked at Emily. "Do you still want me to strip?"

"I - what? I did not ask you to strip, I just wanted to see how badly you're hurt! I - I'm worried about you!"

Suddenly, Loki's expression became serious and he stopped his seductive dancing moves to stay still in front of Emily and place a hand on each side of her waist.

"Worry not, little one. I will be fully healed by tonight."

Emily swallowed, the sudden closeness distracting her far more than his former movements, and she cleared her throat before she said, "You're really going to be alright, then?"

Loki nodded eagerly.

"Thank god", she murmured, taking a deep breath.

"What god exactly is it you are addressing when you say that?" Loki asked curiosly, "Because the only god you can thank for my extraordinary healing abilities would be me, you know. You should say _'Thank Loki'_."

Emily shook her head in amusement. "God, you're so high. Well, come on now, little lambkin. Let's get you into bed, okay?"

"That depends. Do you join me in bed?" Loki smirked, and Emily blushed.

"Not if you keep looking at me like this!" she joked, "You know, even if I am a mere mortal woman, I am more than able to resist you, trust me."

Loki wriggled his hips again and winked at her. "Keep telling yourself that, love."

Emily laughed out. "Holy shit, this drug went straight into your ego, huh?"

"Maybe", Loki admitted and eyed her thoughtfully, suddenly looking very serious again. "I did truly miss you though, you know." He hesitated and then, his eyes suddenly lit up. "The marvelous master of mischief missed his magnificent mortal. Say that three times fast!"

Emily broke into another fit of giggles. "Oh, I should film you, but I'm pretty sure you'd kill me for that tomorrow."

Loki grabbed her shoulder and pulled her even closer to look deep into her eyes, obviously shocked by her words.

"I would never kill you, Emily", he assured her gravely.

A soft smile played on Emily's lips and she wrapped her arms around Loki and rubbed his back while he buried his face in the crook of her neck.

"I know, honey. You'd never hurt me."

"Never", Loki assured her quietly, his lips brushing against Emily's neck, and she felt a tingling sensation in her stomach.

For a second, everything in Emily told her to touch the back of his head and pull his face toward hers, and she quickly let go of him and cleared her suddenly very tight throat.

"So, uh, I think we should go to bed - I - I mean, _you_ should go to bed - can - can you walk?"

"I can", Loki assured her, but Emily still wrapped an arm around his waist to support him, and Loki happily seized the opportunity to put his arm around her shoulder and pull her flush against him.

"Well, then - let's put you into bed to -"

Emily couldn't finish her sentence; she was interrupted by the familiar cold feeling that was rushing through her, and then they were suddenly standing in the common room right next to Tony and the rest of the Avengers who were still sitting at the table.

"Oops", Loki said cheerfully, "I did not mean to come here! We had planned to hop into bed, had we not, love?"

Again, Emily wasn't able to say something before the cold sensation flew through her again, and the last thing that she could see before the common room vanished again was Tony's very bright, very smug and very, very happy smile.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Loki was trying to get rid of his black shirt, which seemed to challenge him more than usually, and Emily eventually helped by pulling it off his head.

"Wow, I almost got lost inside of that thing", Loki said with a frown, and Emily grinned.

"Well, it's a good thing you've already changed into normal attire, I doubt you'd be able to handle your armour right now."

She eyed his injury carefully. It was straight in the middle of his chest and while it looked certainly painful, it didn't seem to be dangerous. In fact, it looked like an injury from a few weeks ago - it was hard to believe that it had only been inflicted on this day.

"Does it still hurt?"

Loki shook his head. "I can barely feel it. It will be nothing but a tiny scar by tonight."

Emily wanted to hug him, but suddenly felt oddly awkward about being so close to him while he was half-naked, and so she just placed a hand on his arm instead.

"Okay. You should still rest now, though. Um, can you get out of your pants on your own?"

Loki smirked. "Fortunately, I am very experienced in getting out of my pants."

Snorting, Emily walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water and a few cookies. When she returned to the bedroom, Loki was only wearing his tight boxershorts, and Emily felt the heat crawl into her cheeks as she tried not to gape at him.

What the hell was wrong with her? She had been sharing his bed with him for months now, and he'd always been half-naked. Well, he was usually wearing light pants instead of these distractingly tight and short boxershorts, but still - she had never been bothered by it before, why did it bother her now? Though it wasn't exactly _bothering_ her, it was more - pulling her mind into entirely wrong places - places where it definitely didn't belong. Not if it included her best friend.

She shook her head and looked back at Loki.

"Uh - here, drink that - and I thought you might like some cookies? I made your favourite ones - if you're hungry, I can make you something to eat, too -"

Loki stretched his arms and yawned, then took the glass and the little plate with cookies from Emily, whose gaze kept flickering over his body.

"No, I'm not hungry. But I would love a cookie."

He emptied the glass in one gulp and put it onto his nightstand, placed the plate next to it and sat down on his bed with a loud groan.

"Oh, this soft bed. I have missed it. Just like I have missed you, little one. Now I have the two things that I have missed the most in one room. I am a lucky man."

Emily laughed. "Yes, you are. Do you need anything else?"

Loki sprawled out in the bed and closed his eyes, then patted the spot next to him.

"Only you. Preferably in my arms."

Emily smiled. Despite her sudden shyness around Loki, the prospect of lying down in his arms again after this very, very long week without him was more than alluring.

"On my way."

She lay down beside him, propped up on her elbows, and looked at him. After a moment, he opened one of his eyes and glanced at her.

"How unfortunate. I was hoping you would follow my lead and undress before lying down."

Emily giggled. "If you weren't drugged, I wouldn't let you get away with this, you know."

"No undressing, then?"

"No undressing. Should I go?"

"Don't you dare", Loki murmured with a soft smirk, closing his eyes again.

He breathed evenly, and Emily caught herself watching his muscular chest heave.

"Are you okay?" she asked nervously, and again, Loki opened a single eye to look at her.

"Of course I am okay. Now come here", he murmured sleepily, patting his chest, and Emily crawled closer to him.

He immediately wrapped his arms around her body and pulled her flush against himself. Emily nuzzled her face against his throat and Loki let out a contented sigh as he stroked over her hair with slow, gentle movements. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. If she cast her guilty conscience for her inappropriate thoughts aside, she just couldn't deny that this felt not only amazing, but completely _right_ , too. Her skin on Loki's, his arms around her body, his hands stroking her head - she couldn't remember when she had ever felt so calm and protected before.

"I'm so glad you're alright", she whispered, and Loki hummed approvingly.

When he had already drifted halfway off to sleep, he suddenly touched her chin with one hand and pushed her head upwards so she was at eyelevel with him. He looked deep into her eyes and smiled fondly.

"Sleep well, my little darling", he whispered and planted a soft kiss on her lips before he let his head sink back into the pillow.

Emily had frozen when Loki's lips had touched hers, and when he closed his eyes and fell asleep, she was still lying completely still in his arms with her breath held.

She wasn't sure if the half-asleep and heavily drugged god beside her had actually been aware that he'd kissed her, and even if he had, she wasn't sure if the kiss was anything she should attach any value to - it might have been just as meaningless as the rest of the drug-induced flirtatious bantering she'd witnessed from him today - but there were a few things she was definitely, undoubtedly sure of: never in her life had anybody's lips felt so indescribably good on hers before, never had a short, innocent kiss - or any other kiss, for that matter - struck so many bright, vibrant sparks inside of her body before, and never, in all of her 28 years in this world, had it ever taken her so ridiculously long to realize a truth that should have been painfully obvious for her to see for a very long time: she had fallen hopelessly in love with her best friend.

 

 


	33. Falling In Love With A Mortal

"By the norns -"

The groan was loud enough to wake Emily. When she opened her sleepy eyes, she looked straight into a pair of green ones. She raised her head and eyed Loki.

"Hey, mornin'. How are you?"

Loki stared at her, his face blank. When he'd awakened, the only things he had noticed had been his headache and his weary condition, but looking into Emily's eyes had just revived the incredibly embarrassing memory of the previous day. He could very clearly remember everything that has happened - every single inappropriate thing he had done and said to Emily - and the thoughts in his mind were whirling around. For a brief second his instinct to flee kicked in and he considered to just walk out of his apartment and kill the first mortal he'd cross paths with - Odin would probably appear in a matter of seconds to carry his murderous ass back to Asgard and throw him back into his prison cell where he would be perfectly safe from Emily's reaction to his behaviour. In the next second his eyes accidentally dropped to Emily's pink lips and it took all of his strength not to grab her head and press her soft mouth against his again.

_Really? Your first two instincts tell you to decide between killing and kissing?_

Emily frowned at him when he didn't answer. "You okay?"

Loki cleared his throat. "I - I am, yes. I feel slightly - exhausted - as if I was attacked by a bilgesnipe, actually."

"A bilgesnipe? What is a bilgesnipe?"

"Huge, hideous beasts that - ah, I will show you one when we are on Asgard." He groaned again. He truly felt drained.

When Emily looked at his chest, her eyes widened. "Wow, it's really just a scar now. Does it still hurt?"

Loki shook his head. "I am well. Just drained; healing does take its toll from a body. And I assume that this midgardian potion - _drug_ \- has disturbed my body even further."

"Your _divine_ body?" Emily couldn't stop herself from saying, and the corners of Loki's mouth twitched in reluctant amusement as he narrowed his eyes at her.

"Are you mocking me?"

"Never", Emily grinned.

Loki shook his head. "This drug has truly peculiar effects on people."

"You were hilarious."

"I should torture these two fools for poisoning me."

Emily smirked. "Oh, but you've been quite fond of your beloved potion yesterday."

The god snorted. "I have been quite fond of _everything_ yesterday. You could have sent Stark to me and I would probably have hugged him." He sounded disgusted at the thought. "After all", he added after a moment, eyeing Emily, "I have behaved quite - improperly - around you, too."

Emily's face fell. She'd already known it, of course, but she suddenly wasn't sure if her heart could bear hearing Loki say that their kiss had only been a side effect of the morphine and that it had not meant anything to him. Biting her lip, she watched him run his fingers through his hair. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to act around him now - she had been lying awake for hours last night, brooding over the shocking discovery of her feelings for Loki, and she had started to panick more and more. The last thing she wanted was to risk her friendship with Loki, and considering that there was no chance he would ever return her feelings, she'd eventually decided that she simply had to find a way to switch her feelings off somehow. This plan had sounded much more reasonable in the dark when these mesmerizing green eyes were closed, though.

Said eyes were still glued to her face, obviously waiting for her to say something, and Emily cleared her throat and rose from the bed.

"I think I'll make some breakfast for us. What would you like to eat?"

Loki swallowed. It was just as he'd expected - Emily was obviously embarrassed by his behaviour; she wouldn't even talk about it, and the anxious expression on her face was proof enough for her discomfort. That was no surprise, really, considering how eagerly he had been trying to seduce her yesterday. He could only hope that he had not damaged their friendship permanently with his unwelcomed advances.

_You should make sure of that, you fool._

"Emily, about yesterday - I hope you know that I have not been myself - if I had been, I would never have behaved the way I have. I did not mean to disrespect our friendship."

Emily, already standing in front of the fridge in the kitchen, pressed her eyes shut tight. There it was. She should have known, she _had_ known, actually, that this was the way Loki would feel about yesterday, but somehow, there had been this tiny spark of hope inside of her - hope that there might have been some kind of meaning behind their kiss after all. _Stupid._

"We're cool", she replied, her voice strained and a little higher than usually, and she suddenly felt an overwhelming desire to be alone. "You know what, I forgot that I told Tony to come to his office earlier today - I think I'll skip breakfast and just go and see him right away."

While she hurried into the bathroom to get ready for work, Loki stayed inside of his bed, his eyes closed and his hands lying on his face. Emily had just told him a blatant lie, and he felt a painful knot inside of his stomach when he realized that she had not only lied to him, but had obviously done so to avoid his company.

When he suddenly heard her move beside him, he opened his eyes and frowned when he saw her placing a cup of cappuccino and a plate with breakfast on his nightstand.

"What is this?" he asked, flabbergasted, and Emily smiled.

"Your magnificent mortal has made you breakfast. You need to recover. Take care of yourself today, take it slow, okay?"

Loki nodded, his throat too tight to say a word. _She'd made him breakfast._ He couldn't remember a single person beside his mother that had ever shown him as much kindness and care as Emily did, and the thought that he might have endangered their friendship with his disgraceful behaviour made him choke with fury.

"Thank you", he finally managed to say.

Emily smiled at him, but he could have sworn that her smile looked a little sad. Before he could say another word, though, she had already turned around and left the apartment.

 

 

* * *

 

 

"Alright, alright, I yield, brother! By the norns, you are in a ridiculously bad mood today!"

Loki huffed at his brother as he let go of his throat and took a step back.

Thor was right, of course; they had been training for a few hours now and Loki had beaten him rather effortlessly every single time. Fury and frustration, as Loki had learnt very early in his life, were the best motivation for a successful combat, and today, he had plenty of both.

When Emily had left the apartment this morning, he had stayed inside of his bed, but he hadn't been able to go back to sleep. Instead, he had been brooding over everything that has happened in the last year, and he had become more and more frustrated with himself and the overall situation that he was in. The way he had acted around Emily yesterday had not only been embarrassing and inappropriate, it had also made it painfully clear to him that he couldn't ignore the feelings he'd developed for her anymore, and the realization infuriated him. Never had he felt anything like this for another being before, he had even believed himself to be above such trivial emotions, and here he was now - a fallen god that spent his days on a realm far beneath his dignity, longing for a mortal that would never return his feelings.

 _It is this gods-forsaken realm,_ he thought angrily as he watched Thor stand up again, _It has softened me, coddled me, changed me into a weak, pathetic shadow of myself._

"Is everything alright?" Thor asked cautiously, and Loki glared at him.

When he had finally decided that he couldn't stand staying in his apartment any longer, he'd asked Thor for a little combat training - the perfect opportunity for him to vent some of his anger - and even his fool of a brother should know him well enough by now to realize that, _no,_ everything was _not_ alright when he spent hours fighting him like this. But did he truly expect him to talk about his feelings now?

"Brother? Are you well?" Thor repeated, and Loki snapped.

"Everything is just perfect, brother. I am still captured on this insufferable realm and I am starting to believe that your dear father is going to let me rot here for all eternity. Why should I not be well, I wonder?"

Thor had frowned. "Where is this coming from? I was under the impression that you've been quite content with your life on Midgard lately?"

Loki huffed. "You barely spend time here anymore, how would you know whether I have been content or not?"

His brother's face softened. "I know I haven't been around much lately. But if you needed someone to talk, you could have just told me so -"

"I do not need someone to talk, you fool. I may give the impression of having softened, owing to my being constantly overexposed to those insufferably sentimental mortals, but I am still far from feeling any need for a shoulder to cry on, I assure you."

Thor eyed his brother warily. "Loki, what is wrong?"

"Apart from your impressing lack of combat skills?"

With a sigh, Thor crossed his arms. "I've known you long enough to see when something is wrong, brother. Now would you just tell me what this is about?"

Loki just snorted, turning away from Thor as he started to stow the lances and swords back into the weapon cabinet.

"Is it about yesterday?"

Loki wheeled around and stared at Thor. "What?"

"Well, you might feel - _flawed_ \- because you got injured on our mission -"

Loki huffed, turning around again to hide his relief. "Please. It was but a scratch. And if I need to remind you, the only reason I got injured was because I had to save the life of the obnoxious Iron Fool. Withal, I still accomplished my part of our plan despite already being injured, did I not?"

"Fine. It was just a guess."

"Wrong guess."

"Obviously. So, what is it? Is there still trouble with Fury?"

When Loki remained silent, Thor took a deep breath.

"With Stark, maybe? No? Then - one of the other Avengers?"

"Please. This is downright ridiculous, Thor", Loki sneered, "Nothing these petty mortals could say or do would ever have an impact on my frame of mind."

Thor narrowed his eyes. "Something the matter with Emily?"

_"Keep your mouth shut, brother, or I will shut it for you!"_

"We have a winner", Thor muttered.

Growling, Loki turned around and shoved at Thor's chest with such surprising speed that he caught Thor completely off guard. He stumbled backwards and Loki, who had expected to meet at least a tiny bit of resistance from his brother, fell down with him. The god of thunder blinked at his brother who was lying sprawled across his chest and chuckled.

"Looks like you do need a shoulder to cry on, after all."

Loki leaped to his feet in a split second, shooting Thor a furious glare before he turned around to head for the door.

"Come on, Loki, wait. Just tell me what it is. Did you two fight?"

Loki scowled at Thor. "We did no such thing. Mind your own relationship, brother."

Thor sighed. "Speaking of which - did it ever cross your mind that my own relationship with a mortal woman might turn me into just the right conversational partner for problems of this kind?"

Loki stilled. Actually, it had not.

"It is ludicrous, really, to call you of all people the right conversational partner for problems of _any_ kind", he scoffed after a second.

They were silent for a moment. Loki was still facing the door and Thor stood behind him, just waiting for his little brother to decide to say something, while Loki was struggling with a whirlwind of emotions. He felt the sudden need to disburden himself of it, even if it meant that he had to share his conflicting feelings with his idiot of a brother.

"I care more for Emily than I am comfortable with", Loki said eventually, his voice quiet and careful.

Thor frowned. "And you are not comfortable with it because - ?"

"Really, Thor? The first thing I say in this conversation, and you already have difficulties to follow me?"

Loki turned around and gave Thor a sardonic smile. Thor knew that his brother's display of arrogance was just his usual way of hiding his insecurity, but he still found it quite challenging to not react appropriately to it.

"I think I'm more than capable to follow", he replied softly, "I'm just wondering what it is that bothers you most - the fact that it is a mortal that you have a soft spot for, your worries of getting too close to any other being, be it mortal or not, or maybe your fear that she might not like you the way you like her."

Loki was torn between anger and astonishment about his brother's surprising keen perception.

"It is about time for me to return to Asgard", he said in a sharp voice after a moment of speechlessness, "I have been here long enough and this realm and its inhabitants are beginning to have negative effects on me. That is the only thing that is truly bothering me."

"Really?" Thor shook his head. "And if you returned to Asgard, how would you move on?"

"I would finally move on with my life, I assume. Far away from this pitiful realm and back in the palace where I belong."

Thor hummed. "What about Emily? Would you just erase her from your memory? Would you go back to bedding a different bedmaid every other night because even with them, you are afraid that you might form a bond and -"

Loki interrupted him. "I fail to see the problem with that."

Thor crossed his arms. "Come on now, Loki. You've changed, don't deny that. Do you really think it a reasonable way of solving your problems to turn your back on them?"

"It would still be far more reasonable than falling in love with a mortal!" Loki shouted, and gritted his teeth a split second later.

His brother had to stifle a smile. _He knew it_. Ever since he'd seen Loki approaching him today, his face grim and his lips a thin line, he'd known that there was something wrong with him. When he had asked him if he'd spar with him, Thor had let out an internal sigh - it was always the same with Loki; he simply wasn't capable to just talk with him when he needed to, and Thor had known that he would have to take countless hits, both physically and verbally, before Loki would finally admit that there was something on his mind. All Thor would have to do at this very moment was to taunt and tease him a bit - at some point, Loki would always snap.

Really, his little brother was fare more predictable than he thought he was.

Though, the god of thunder had to admit that the confession his little brother has just made has taken him by surprise, after all.

"Love, brother?" he said gently, "Did you say love?"

"Really, Thor, your quick-wittedness is one of a kind."

Thor sighed. "You can't blame me for being surprised, can you?" He broke into a wide smile. "You _love_ her? That is wonderful, brother. Why are you so distressed, then? What is so unreasonable about your feelings?"

"What is unreasonable about loving a mortal?" Loki hissed, aghast at his brother's reaction, "You really have to ask?"

"Well -" Thor shrugged, "It depends. Does she love you, too?"

Loki crossed his arms in front of his chest. "It is highly unlikely. And even if she did, I would never know."

"You could ask her", Thor suggested, and Loki raised his eyebrows.

"How very subtle, brother. Truly, a brilliant idea."

Thor rolled his eyes. "I am aware that you have little to no experience in this field, but when somebody develops feelings for another, he usually tries to find out whether his beloved returns his feelings."

Loki shook his head. "That is ridiculous. She would not - she would never -" He huffed without finishing his sentence.

"She seems quite fond of you, actually."

"Certainly not in this way. And even if she was, which I doubt - what good would it do?"

"Now I really can't follow you."

"Thor, Emily is a mortal", Loki said after a long moment of silence, and suddenly, his voice lacked all of the mordant scorn and the arrogance Thor had heard in it before. Instead, Loki sounded nothing but deeply saddened and racked with pain.

Thor looked at his brother. "I know. But that doesn't have to withhold you from -" When Loki snorted, Thor frowned. "Oh please, don't tell me it's because you think yourself above her. After all this time you've spent with her?"

"Don't be ridiculous. That is not at all what is bothering me."

"Then what is it? She's a wonderful woman, Loki, and she is obviously doing you a world of good - I am sure that she would make you very happy if you two would -"

"But what for?" Loki exclaimed, "What is the _point?_ How many years does she have left, Thor? Maybe fifty? Where is the point in spending fifty years with her if I'm going to miss her for 4000 years afterwards?"

"Because", Thor said quietly, "If you don't spend these years with her, you will still be missing her, but you will do so for 4050 years. You can either share the time that Emily has left with her and miss her afterwards, or you can start missing her from this day on without allowing yourself to indulge in love's bliss with her beforehand."

Loki stared at his brother without saying a word. After a long moment, he said, "Why in the nine realms do you suddenly ooze wisdom?"

Thor chuckled. "Because, dear brother, I've had the very same conversation with mother when I've met Jane, and I am merely reciting the advice she has handed out back then."

Loki couldn't stifle a smirk. "Ah. All is right with the world, then."

The blonde god slapped Loki's shoulder, grinning at him. "All is right with the world, brother."

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

"I can't believe you thought it funny to let me think Loki was on the brink of death", Emily said reproachfully, glaring at a grinning Tony.

"Well, it did the trick, didn't it? Didn't you, and I quote your beloved, hop straight into bed yesterday?"

Emily felt the blood rush straight into her face. "I only tucked him in so he could recover, Tony! There was nothing - _nothing_ of what you're thinking of right now - happening!"

Tony frowned. "Are you kidding me? Nothing? Not even -"

"Don't you dare to say it, whatever it is", Emily murmured, and Tony let out a deep sigh.

"Holy shit, I've never watched such a slow burn. This is getting frustrating."

Emily shook her head. "Tony -"

"Just admit it, Em. You can't wait to hop into bed with him, can you?"

"You know what, I've come here to discuss your mission reports, actually -"

"Don't you change the subject now! What exactly is holding you back? Do I really have to lock you two up inside of an elevator or something like that?"

Emily huffed. "Yeah, I'm sure that would make him fall for me."

When Tony's face lit up, Emily realized her mistake. "I didn't mean that -"

"Oh yes, you did! You're just waiting for him to make the first move, aren't you?"

Emily shook her head frantically. "There won't be a first move! Loki is never going to -"

It was this very moment that Thor barged into the office. "What's with my brother?"

Tony looked at the sweaty and bruised god and raised his eyebrows. "What the hell have you been up to, thunderbird?"

Thor sighed. "I've just finished three hours of combat training with my brother. He has been merciless."

Emily frowned at him. "You've been training? He should have been recovering today, he got stabbed, after all -"

"Oh, he is fine, don't worry", Thor replied cheerfully, "So, why have you been talking about him? Is anything wrong?"

Tony smirked. "Oh no, everything's fine. We've just been placing bets - when do you think Loki's finally going to confess his love for Emily?"

Emily started to stutter incoherent words, her cheeks blushing scarlet with shame, while Thor beamed at her.

"Are you waiting for him to make the first move? Emily, are you _in love_ with my brother?"

"Yes, Emily", Tony said, crossing his arms, "Are you in love with his brother?"

Staring at the two men with their ridiculously bright grins on their faces, Emily shook her head. "You know what, you two suck, and I'm out of here."

Thor and Tony both laughed heartily as Emily left the office without another word.

"She's getting cheeky", Thor stated, and Tony smiled fondly.

"Yes, she is. You know what else she is? About to get laid."

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Loki was sitting at his desk, writing into an ancient looking book that was bound in dark green leather, when Emily returned in the evening. He looked up to smile at her and was relieved when she returned it.

After his long training and the following surprisingly helpful conversation with his brother, he had felt much more at peace with everything. He'd had a plan before the incidents of the previous day had happened, after all, and he'd decided to just follow through with it.

"Hey there, how are you?" Emily said, sounding rather relaxed.

Loki closed the book and rose from the chair. "I am magnificent."

Emily laughed. "Oh no, don't tell me you're high again."

Chuckling, Loki walked into the kitchen, followed by Nolan, who clearly expected to be fed again. "No, I am not. I have made dinner, though."

When Emily entered the kitchen, she beamed at Loki. "That smells amazing. Thank God, I've been starving. No, wait, it's 'Thank Loki', right?"

Loki growled. "You are mocking me. How rude."

"Sorry. Did you talk to Tony yet to make him change his name into Titanium Man?"

"You are walking on thin ice, my dear. You should stop making fun of me, else I will have to start dancing again to distract you."

They exchanged a smirk. Neither of them addressed it, but they were both incredibly relieved that the tension of this morning was gone.

"I'm happy you've been listening to me", Emily said eventually, motioning her hand towards his desk, "You look much better. A day of recovery has obviously helped you."

"Hm? Oh, yes. Of course. I did as you said, I took it slow." When he caught Emily smirking, he frowned. "What is it?"

"I've met Thor today. He complained about your painful training session."

Loki grinned guiltily. "Well. I took it mostly slow. Except for the few hours of combat training."

Emily gave him a scolding look, and Loki chuckled before he waved his hand and placed two plates with dinner on the table. When they both started to eat, Loki watched Emily curiosly.

"So, how was your week?"

Emily swallowed the mouthful of food she'd been chewing on and beamed at him. "Awesome! I'm all done in my apartment now, and it looks like heaven in there! Pink, flowery heaven; but well." She grinned. "But the magnificent mortal has missed her marvelous master of mischief, too."

Loki groaned and buried his face in his hands.

"Okay" Emily giggled, "I'll stop teasing you now."

"I highly doubt it", Loki murmured. "Do you want to show me your pink hel after dinner?"

"Not if you call it pink hell!"

Loki grinned. When he saw Emily drop a piece of meat to the floor a second later, he frowned at her.

"Do you feed my dinner to Nolan?"

"Just a few pieces of meat. Look how cute he is when he's begging for something -"

Loki shook his head in disbelief. "Do you always do that?"

"Most of the times, yeah."

He sighed. "And here I am wondering why this creature refuses to hunt its prey."

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

_Damn his plan._

Yes, it had sounded reasonable to have Emily move into her own apartment, and her excitement when she had shown him her colourfully furnished new rooms this evening had been contagious, but right now, in this very moment, where he was lying in his king size bed with nobody at his side and nobody to nuzzle into him, Loki cursed himself for ever broaching this particular subject. If he had not asked Stark to offer Emily her own apartment, she'd be lying right here in his arms now instead of doing who knows what in her personal pink hel.

Despite his bad mood, he could feel a light smile playing at his lips. She had been adorably enthusiastic when she had shown him her rooms, and while Loki had teased her with how much he claimed to be disgusted by the pink surroundings, he actually had to admit that her apartment did not only look cozy and homelike but also exactly the way he'd expected it from Emily. There was a fluffy pink rug lying in front of her flowered couch in her living room, pink pillows and blankets on her bed and innumerable colourful decorative items scattered across the rooms. Some of the light pink walls were decorated with big flowers that she'd painted herself, others were plastered with posters and pictures from her favourite bands and movies. Most of the shelves and cupboards in the apartment were filled with her books while the coffee table, desk and basically every other flat surface were decorated with flower vases, candles and other trinkets. Loki was not a bit surprised that Emily felt comfortable in these rooms.

Just as they had planned before he'd left for the Avenger's mission, they carried (or rather, teleported) the rest of Emily's belongings into her new apartment, and at some point in the late evening, they had hugged and bid each other good night before Loki had left. It had been awkward to leave Emily behind instead of lying down next to her, and he was was almost convinced that Emily had looked rather saddened, too. But that might as well have been wishful thinking.

He sighed as he closed his eyes and ran his hands through his hair. Yes, it was definitely for the best that Emily had her own home now, but that didn't change a thing about his sudden feeling of loneliness. It was highly frustrating. He has always slept alone, never had he allowed any of his previous sexual partners - let alone anybody else - to stay overnight or share his bed with him. How in the nine realms could he have become so used to another person's company after just a few months?

When he suddenly realized that Emily was probably lying in her own bed just a few feet away from him, he let out another frustrated sigh. _So close and yet so far._

Maybe he should just call her or walk over to see how she was doing. Or would that be too much? Probably, yes.

When his phone hummed, he frowned and reached for it. Tapping on the display, a bright smile flashed over his face.

It was a selfie from Emily, cuddled into her pink blanket with Nolan curled up on her chest. Beneath the picture, she had written **"We love our new home, but we miss our marvelous master of mischief!"**

Chuckling quietly, Loki took the first selfie of his life and sent it to Emily with the message _"I miss my magnificent mortal, too."_

A moment later, another message popped up.

**"Want to come over for breakfast tomorrow? I'll make my glorious pancakes."**

Loki grinned.

_"You just want me to clean up the chaos you are going to leave behind in your kitchen."_

**"Damn, you've got me there. But if you're my chambermaid, I'll pay you with pancakes."**

_"I am your god, little mortal. I demand your pancakes as a sacrificial offering."_

**"And then you're going to show mercy on my soul and clean my kitchen?"**

_"So it shall be."_

**"Amen! See you tomorrow, pookie!"**

_"Good night, darling."_

 

And then, separated only by the wall between them, both Loki and Emily finally drifted off to sleep, both with their phones in their hands and a smile on their lips.


	34. The Right Guy

A few days later, Emily and Natasha were sitting in Emily's new living room, talking about everything and anything while Natasha couldn't stop grinning at Emily's choice of furniture and her stories about how Loki and Tony had not been able to stop complaining about it.

Clint was spending a few days with his family, Steve and Bruce were on a reconnaissance mission for a few days and Tony, Thor and Loki had just left an hour ago for a spontaneous small mission, too. Tony had assured Natasha that they didn't need her, and since she had gotten her leg slightly injured during their mission in Germany, she was more than willing to take a little break.

When Tony, Thor and Loki had left, the two women had decided that this was the perfect opportunity for a proper girl's night, and Emily had been delighted to invite Natasha over into her apartment. They were just about to finish their pizza when Emily, who had been trying to work up enough courage to broach a certain subject for the last days, took a deep breath and cleared her throat.

"Um, Tasha - can I ask you something?"

The redhead looked up from her last piece of pizza to meet Emily's nervous eyes. "Sure. What's up?"

Emily took another deep breath. "Um - you know, in my support group, we've been discussing, uh, new relationships. You know, when it's the right time to start, like, dating again, and - yeah -" She fell silent, giving her best to avoid Natasha's gaze, and Natasha cocked her head and gave Emily an encouraging smile. "Um - so, the, uh, general opinion seems to be that a woman with - you know - a certain past with men - should wait until she starts a new relationship with someone -"

If Emily was hoping for Natasha to take over, she was disappointed - the russian woman just looked at her with a patient smile on her face, waiting for her to continue talking. Emily cleared her throat again.

"Well, I - I've just been wondering - do you think that's right? I mean, if I met somebody now, and I'd, um, suspect him to maybe somehow like me a little bit, too - do you think it would be, uh, wrong if I - well -"

Natasha finally took some pity in the poor girl's stammering. "I'd usually agree that it would be wise to spend some time on your own after passing through an experience like that, but well... I don't think that's a universal advice. I mean, every situation is different, after all. And if you meet the right guy, there's no wrong time." She gave Emily a knowing smile. " _Did_ you meet the right guy?"

Emily's cheeks turned crimson. "I - I'm not sure - I - it's - a bit complicated -"

"But you like him?"

The reply came quick and without hesitation. "Yes."

"Well then, as long as you think you're ready, I'd say, go for it."

Emily bit into her lip. "I don't know if I'm ready. I mean, how do I know that?"

Natasha leaned towards her friend and gave her a smile. "Just take it slow and look what you're comfortable with. You don't have to marry the guy straight away, golubok. Why don't you start with a date and see how it feels?"

Emily hummed thoughtfully.

"Just take care that you never do anything that doesn't feel right to you. Don't rush anything if you don't feel like it."

Again, Emily hummed, and Natasha frowned. "What did your group tell you?"

"I didn't really talk about it yet", Emily admitted, "Maybe I should. I was a little afraid that the others would try to talk me out of it. But thank you for what you said, it sounds - right."

Natasha chuckled. "You almost sound surprised."

Emily grinned. "I kind of expected you to ask me for his name so you can do a background check on him, actually."

The redhead gave her friend a smirk. "I'd ask you for his social security number for that, but I doubt that he has one. At least not here on Earth", she added with a wink.

Emily blushed. "Damn it. Does everyone in this tower just wait for Loki and me to throw ourselves at each other?"

"Basically, yes."

"Great", Emily muttered. Then, she looked at Natasha insecurely. "So - do you think I have a chance?"

Natasha laughed out. "Sweetie, there's a lot of questions you could ask yourself before dating the dark lord, but in your case, it should definitely not be if you have a chance."

Emily raised her shoulders, not nearly as convinced, and Natasha grinned at her, putting an arm around her shoulder.

"Trust me, you have absolutely no reason to worry about that. Just promise me one thing, when you two come to the point - tell me if he's any good. Because he sure looks like he's good."

"Tasha!" Emily exclaimed and gave her friend a playful slap on her arm.

Natasha smirked. "Well, I mean, he's a god, and a _giant_ \- that's got to be good for something, right?"

Emily was guffawing by now. "Oh my god, shut up!"

"Come on! You've been living with him for weeks, could you never get a sneak peek at little Loki?"

"Tasha! Stop it!"

"Nothing at all?"

Emily couldn't help but grin smugly. "Well, he does sleep topless every night and damn - he's gorgeous -"

Natasha eyed her, grinning. "You look like you're having hot flushes."

"I might be", Emily giggled, "In retrospect I'm surprised I didn't fall for him much sooner, considering how many times I've fallen asleep on this chest -"

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "You slept on his chest?"

"Don't look at me like that - it was all - um, platonic, we've just been, well, cuddling a lot -"

"Cuddling", Natasha repeated slightly amused, "Is that what you kids call it today?"

Emily laughed. "Kids? You're not much older than I am, and you're like thousand years younger than Loki -" She suddenly frowned. "Holy shit, he's like thousand years older than me!"

Natasha pressed her lips together, obviously trying hard not to laugh.

"God, you can't even call that daddy issues anymore", Emily exclaimed, "It's more like, great-great-great-great-great-granddaddy issues - and that's not even close -"

"Why don't you talk about _that_ with your group?" Natasha smirked.

"I think that's going to break the mould of a support group", Emily muttered, shaking her head, "Wow, that's -"

"Relax, Emily. As long as he doesn't make you call him great-great-great-granddaddy in bed -"

"Oh my god", Emily groaned, and Natasha chuckled.

"I'd wager my leather pants that he's going to make you call him _that_ in bed, though."

Emily shot her a glare, but she couldn't stifle her laughter.

"Tasha", she panted eventually, "I need a drink. I don't have anything here, but I really, really need a drink."

"You mean you need some liquid courage to make a move on the dinosaur you're having a crush on?"

Emily cocked her head. "So from the two of us, _my_ crush is the one who reminds you of a dinosaur?"

Natasha laughed out heartily. "Touché. Now let's go raid Tony's office and get you that drink."

 

* * *

 

   
"So you don't think this is a bad idea?"

"Getting drunk is never a bad idea."

Emily grinned. They had successfully broken into Tony's office to steal one of his probably ridiculously expensive wine bottles and were just on their way back to Emily's apartment.

"I mean, me and - you know who."

"Is this a Voldemort thing? Is he going to appear next to us when we say his name out loud?"

"Possibly, yeah. Just kidding. No, it just feels a little weird to talk about it. I haven't even been thinking about him like this until just a few days ago."

Natasha raised an eyebrow, and Emily frowned. "What?"

"A few days ago?" Natasha repeated in disbelief, "Seriously?"

Emily shrugged. "Yeah. When you returned from Germany and he was injured."

Natasha groaned. "Never ever tell that Stark."

"I think he already knows, anyways."

"I mean that Loki's injury opened your eyes. That's why he acted as if Loki was about to die, and he's never going to shut up about it if you let him know that his evil masterplan actually succeeded."

Emily shook her head as she opened the door to her apartment. "I know. He's such an ass - a genius, yeah, but an ass, too."

"Tell me about it. You have no idea what he's done to bring Bruce and me together. But - that was just three days ago, Em. You really didn't notice how you were feeling about You-Know-Who until then?"

"No, not really. The drugged kiss Loki gave me when I tucked him in - that did the trick."

Natasha's eyebrows shot back up. "Drugged kiss?"

Emily chuckled. "Don't tell him that I told you about that, but the doctors managed to inject him some morphine when he wasn't fully conscious. They gave him a very high dose though, and Loki was high as shit. He was hilarious, I wish I could have filmed him."

"I'd pay to see that", Natasha chuckled, pouring them a glass of Tony's wine.

Emily grinned at the memory as she took a sip. "It was terrific, really. Well, and when I tucked him in, he asked me to stay with him, so I did... Then, when he was already half asleep, he said "Good night, my little darling" and kissed me."

Natasha smiled. "I never thought I'd ever use that word to describe Loki of all people, but damn, that's cute."

"It was. And that was when I realized that I - well - that I like him."

The russian shook her head. "No offense, but you must have been the last to notice. Apart from Loki himself, of course."

Emily huffed, and Natasha smirked at her. "Better late than never. But the kiss was all that happened?"

"Yes", Emily grinned, "Sorry to disappoint you. Actually, the next day I moved in here, and well - Loki comes over for breakfast everyday, and we still see each other beside that, too, but - now that I have my own bed, there's no more - um -"

"Cuddling?" Natasha suggested with a grin, and Emily nodded.

"Yeah, cuddling. God, I really miss that - it has only been a few days, but -"

"Sounds like it's about time to get back into his bed then."

Emily laughed. "What happened to 'take it slow'?"

"Oh, yeah", Natasha grinned, "Sure. Well, there's a lot of fun things to do slowly, too."

Emily eyed her thoughtfully. "You know, I really expected you to try to talk me out of this."

Natasha frowned. "Why should I?"

"I kind of prepared for a 'Loki is an evil villain'-speech."

Natasha seemed to think about her answer before she started to speak. "A year ago, I would have given you one. But things have changed since then. I've been fighting side by side with Loki quite a few times by now, and more importantly, I've seen the way he treats you. To be honest, sometimes I have a hard time believing he's the same guy that led an alien invasion just a few years ago."

"He's not", Emily said softly, "Not really."

Natasha hummed. Then she looked at Emily with a smile. "I see the way he looks at you, and I see the way you smile at him. I doubt that there's any reason for me to warn you of him."

"Thank you", Emily said sincerely, smiling at Natasha.

"Oh, and, if he goes wrong somehow, after all", the redhead added after a moment, "You've got quite a few superheroes behind you who are going to kick his ass, you know."

Emily laughed. "That's good to know."

Pouring them another glass of wine, Emily raised her glass and touched Natasha's. "Nastrovje!"

Natasha chuckled. "Nastrovje, golubok. If we keep drinking at this pace, you're probably going to jump into Loki's leather pants the second he returns."

 

* * *

 

 

Emily was breathless with laughter as she was rummaging through Tony's drinks' cabinet. Natasha on the other hand, much more of a hard drinker than Emily was, was watching her with an amused grin on her face.

"Are you sure you don't need help?"

"I'm sure", Emily panted, "It's just - god, how many different kinds of alcohol does this man have, and why is - why - ohh, look!"

She raised a bottle of tequila with a triumphant grin.

Natasha raised her eyebrows instead. "Are you sure you want to add tequila to your current state of intoxication?"

"'Current state of intoxication'? Who are you, Natasha of Asgard? Come on, look for a lemon, I bet Tony has every ingredient for every possible drink in here!"

Natasha chuckled, but did as she was told. "Yeah, here's one. And here's salt, too."

"See, this man is a genius", Emily said, placing the bottle of tequila on Tony's desk. "Damn, we need a knife -"

"I have one", Natasha replied, already cutting the lemon with a pocket knife.

"Oh, sure", Emily said, shaking her head, "Who doesn't bring a knife to a girl's night? You know, I think that's why I love to work here so much. In this tower, I'm not the only freak."

Natasha laughed, handing Emily a piece of lemon. "If we continue to break into your boss's office, I'm not sure if you're going to be working here much longer, though."

Emily, eyeing the piece of lemon, the salt shaker and the glass of Tequila with a frown, wasn't listening to her.

"Hey, Tasha, how did that work again - drink, lick, bite? No, that doesn't make sense -"

"If you're too drunk to remember how to drink, you've had enough; that's an old russian wisdom."

Emily grinned, but they both raised their glasses anyways, letting them touch before they downed them and bit into their pieces of lemon afterwards.

"Oh, shit, that's disgusting", Emily coughed, and Natasha laughed.

"Of course it is; it's tequila."

"Why doesn't Tony have strawberry liquor or something like that instead?" Emily rasped and sat down in one of the armchairs.

Before Natasha could reply to that, Emily suddenly let out a shriek and leaped back to her feet to rush to a glass cabinet with different gadgets in it.

"Look at that!" she exclaimed as she took one of Tony's former Iron Man helmets out of the cabinet.

Natasha smirked. "That's not exactly strawberry liquor."

"No, it's better!" Emily said excitedly and eyed the helmet for a moment before she put it on and turned around to look at her friend. "How do I look? Wow, this is really heavy - hey, do my eyes glow?"

"No", Natasha chuckled, "That thing is switched off, Em."

"Damn", came Emily's muffled voice from beneath the helmet, "But anyways -"

She struck a familiar pose; her legs wide apart and one of her hands held up in Natasha's direction as she growled with a stern voice, "Lay down your arms, baddy! I am Iron Man!"

"Oh, are you now?"

The deep, highly amused voice that came from the open office door behind her was definitely not Natasha's, and Emily froze in her tracks. Lowering her outstretched hand, she stared at Natasha, who was snorting with laughter.

"Tony's standing behind me, right?"

"Yep."

"Damn."

"Yep."

Emily cringed. "Is he going to fire me now?"

"No, he's not", Tony replied from behind her, chuckling slightly.

"Is this a kink of yours, darling?" Emily suddenly heard Loki's voice, and though she wouldn't have thought it possible a second ago, she cringed even more than before now. "Wearing the headpieces of male warriors?"

Emily, her face almost glowing with heat, swallowed as she turned around to face Tony, Loki and Thor, all of them grinning broadly.

She cleared her throat. "Um - you're back early."

Tony chuckled, crossing his arms. " _That's_ your explanation? That we're back early?"

Emily, the helmet still on her head, raised her hands, torn between giggling and crying with shame. "I'm sorry, Tony -"

But Tony waved his hand as he walked towards his drinks' cabinet. "Don't be. It suits you."

Fiddling around with the helmet's clasp, Emily let out a desperate groan. "Well, great. I think it's stuck."

Loki stepped closer and smirked at her, causing her to blush even more. "I do believe my helmet suited you more, love", he purred, and removed the helmet with a swift movement to reveal Emily's flushed face.

"Thank you", she muttered sheepishly, burying her red face in her hands, "Now if you'll excuse me, I am going to wait for the ground to open and swallow me up."

Loki chuckled and put an arm around her shoulder. Emily caught Natasha and Tony smirking and felt another wave of heat rush to her face.

"Actually, I've always wanted to try out your suit, too", Natasha said eventually, and Emily gave her a smile, grateful that she tried to distract some of the attention from her. "I'd prefer one that works, though."

Tony huffed. "Keep dreaming."

Natasha scowled at him and silently poured herself another glass of tequila.

"Hey, is that my tequila?" Tony suddenly asked, causing Emily to lower her gaze ruefully. "Is _that_ why my stock of alcohol keeps disappearing? Because you two sneak in here at night to drink all of my bottles?"

"Stark, your stock of alcohol keeps disappearing because _you_ drink all of your bottles", Loki stated.

Emily suddenly became aware that he was still holding her as his voice sent pleasant vibrations through her body, and she smiled softly and leaned closer into his embrace, breathing in deeply. Tony eyed the pair with a frown and shrugged after a moment.

"Well, whatever. Who else wants a drink?"

Thor shook his head. "I'm going to see Jane now."

Loki rolled his eyes at this, but then shook his head, too. "I will go to bed, it has been a rather long day." He glanced at Emily. "Shall I accompany you to your rooms?"

Emily, her cheeks still burning with shame, nodded. "That would be nice. Thank you."

Natasha gave Tony a meaningful look. "Well, I'm going to have another drink. I wanted to talk to you anyways, Tony." She smirked at Emily and Loki. "Off you go, you two. Behave yourselves."

Loki huffed and turned around to leave the office. Emily, weaving slightly as she walked towards the door with Loki, glanced back at Tony and Natasha and was relieved when she saw both of them smile at her.

"You had too much to drink", Loki stated as they left Tony's office and Emily bumped into him again.

Emily snorted. "Really? You didn't notice that before when you caught me during my Iron Man performance?"

Loki chuckled. "At least now I am not the only one who has made a fool out of himself while being drugged."

"You didn't make a fool out of yourself", Emily protested, "You were adorable and sweet and sexy. And I, I just got stuck in my boss's superhero helmet."

The god smirked, rather pleased with her description of him, and squeezed her shoulder. "I find you quite adorable and sweet, too. Sexy - well, no, at least not with the Iron Fool's helmet on your beautiful head."

Emily blushed and glanced at Loki. She could have sworn that he looked even more beautiful today, with his long black hair that fell into his handsome face, brushing against his sharp cheekbones -

Suddenly feeling incredibly brave, she reached for Loki's hand and turned her face towards him. It probably wasn't a good idea to kiss him now, she thought, it would really be much more reasonable to wait for it until she'd sobered up - but the thing was, as soon as she'd have sobered up, she would also be lacking the courage for this, and so she made the decision in a split second: she'd just take advantage of her own alcohol induced boldness now and finally go ahead and kiss him.

When Loki noticed that she was looking at him, he turned his head into her direction, too - and just as Emily drew closer to him to meet his lips, she lost her balance and stumbled down.

Loki caught her mid-air before she could hit the ground, of course, and he lifted her up without any effort, cradling her against his chest with a smile on his face.

"Careful, little one."

Emily wrapped her arms around his chest and nuzzled her face against him, sighing contentedly. It was a shame that she had not managed to kiss him, really, but this felt amazing, too - and she would make up for the missed kiss as soon as Loki would put her down again, she decided.

"Thank you for catching me", she murmured after a moment, and added, "It's Tony's fault. He could have just borrowed me his suit and let me fly."

Loki chuckled. "You are not even capable to walk on your own two feet, love. I can only imagine the havoc you would be causing if you were flying and armed now."

When they reached Emily's apartment a few minutes later, Loki carried her into her bedroom, carefully placing her onto the bed, and she let herself fall into the soft pillows and closed her eyes, letting out a deep sigh. She suddenly felt terribly tired, and her head was slightly dizzy.

"Do you need anything?" Loki asked insecurely, and Emily opened her eyes and smirked at him.

"Only you. Preferably in my arms."

Loki swallowed. He was painfully aware that Emily had wanted to kiss him a few minutes ago, and the way she was looking at him now was clearly indicating that she had not given up on this purpose. Admittedly, he felt the urge to let out a crow of delight over her obvious attraction towards him - but as of now, he was rather unsure of how he was supposed to deal with the situation.

He looked at Emily, who was smiling expectantly at him, obviously waiting for him to join her in her bed, and _gods_ , how he wanted to - but she was clearly too drunk to make reasonable decisions, wasn't she? Their first, very chaste kiss had also been drug induced, after all, and Loki didn't want their next move to be caused by intoxication, too. Yes, he had missed lying beside her at night and yes, he had been waiting for an opportunity to be near her again, but this... No, this wasn't it. Emily had barely been able to walk, he doubted that she would even remember this tomorrow, and that was not how he wanted it to be - not at all. It just wasn't right -

_It wasn't right? Will you listen to yourself? When have you become so disgustingly decent, god of mischief?_

"Loki?"

Emily was sprawled out on the bed, her sweatshirt had rucked up a bit to reveal a strip of the naked skin of her waist, and Loki suddenly found himself incapable of looking away. He wondered how it would feel to brush his lips against this presumably very soft skin and let his tongue wander further down while Emily was squirming and moaning beneath him -

"Loki, are you coming?"

By the norns, yes, he would be if he didn't distract himself right now.

"I will get you a glass of water", he said, his voice hoarse, "You will thank me for it tomorrow."

Hurrying out of Emily's bedroom, he quickly splashed some cold water into his face before he poured Emily a glass of mineral water and returned to her. Emily was still lying on her back, her eyes snapping back open when she heard Loki's light steps nearing. She took the glass from him and gulped some of the water down before she looked back at Loki, who was leaning against the pink wall opposite of her bed.

"Do you want to stay with me tonight?" she suddenly asked shyly, and her cheeks reddened.

_Yes. No. By the norns, being decent sucks, as the midgardians would call it._

"I don't know if - well -" His voice was still a little hoarse and he fell silent when Emily lowered her gaze, clearly hurt by his reply.

"It's just that I've been missing you beside me at night", she mumbled, vaguely aware that she would never have told him so now if it wasn't for the alcohol she'd had tonight.

Loki's face softened. "So have I, little one."

Emily lifted her head and met Loki's eyes with an expression of disbelief on her face. "Really?"

"Really. I just do not - I do not want to do anything that - well, you are quite drunk -"

Again, Emily blushed. "I - yeah. True." She hesitated. "Could you just hold me, then?"

Her voice was suddenly so small that Loki instantly forgot about everything he had been worrying about before, and he walked up to Emily's bed quickly to sit down next to her and pull her into his arms without hesitation. She leaned into him, letting out a blissful sigh when she felt his warmth surround her, and snuggled up to his chest as close as she possibly could. Loki smiled down at the mortal woman in his arms and planted a kiss on her head that made her sigh quietly again.

Emily wasn't sure if she was disappointed that Loki wasn't willing to go any further or not - he didn't seem generally reluctant, the reason for his hesitation was obviously her drunkenness, and even though it made her feel terribly impatient and dissatisfied at this moment, she had to admit that it was probably for the best not to rush anything just because she had had too much wine. Besides, he was holding her in his strong arms, stroking her head and brushing his fingers over her cheek every now and then, and that felt far too good to actually be disappointed in anything, anyways.

"Do you not like living alone?" Loki asked eventually, his voice quiet, and Emily hesitated

"I do", she said after a moment, "It feels good to have my own home. It feels _right_ , somehow. But - I just - I missed to sleep next to you. And I guess that I'm just a bit scared to be alone, too."

"You are not alone", Loki assured her softly.

"I know. It just feels like that sometimes." She frowned. "Hey, by the way, why did you come back so early?"

Loki smirked. "To save you from the russian's bad influence regarding the consumption of alcohol and burglary, I assume."

"That was my idea, actually", Emily admitted, "Both of it."

"I should have known", Loki chuckled and planted another kiss on her hair, "My little mischief-maker."

"Must be your influence", Emily murmured sleepily.

"Guilty as charged." Loki grinned before he added, "Our mission was merely a children's play. It took us longer to travel there than to actually accomplish the task."

Emily hummed drowsily, and again, Loki chuckled. "You should sleep, darling."

"Mhm. Can you stay here?"

"Of course."

Emily wriggled out of his embrace and gave him a grateful smile before she lifted the blanket and curled herself up beneath it. Loki let his gaze wander over her as he moved closer, using his seidr to quickly change into more comfortable pants. It was a good thing that Emily was too drunk to care about sleeping in her normal clothes - he wasn't sure if she would have changed her clothes inside of the bathroom as she usually did; she might have just done so in front of him considering how drunk she was, and he was not convinced that he would have been able to deal with seeing her undress.

Decent or not, he was still Loki.

When Emily felt him move behind her, she turned back around to look at him. They were both lying on their sides now, their faces only inches away from each other, and a fond smile appeared on Emily's lips when she met his gaze.

"Hey", she said quietly.

Loki could only stare at her. Her hair was a mess, her eyes were slightly swollen and red from tiredness, there were a few smudges of dirt from Stark's helmet smeared across her cheek and she smelled like a tavern - but she was still the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in all of the worlds he'd set his feet on.

And with the way she was acting tonight, drunk or not, he was finally willing to believe that there was a chance she might be attracted to him, too.

"What are you thinking about?" Emily whispered, and Loki raised a hand and brushed his thumb over her cheek to wipe the dirt away, smiling fondly at her as she closed her eyes to savour the sensation of his touch.

"That it is a blessing I have been exiled to Midgard", he replied softly.

Emily opened her eyes, looking at him in wonder, and when she found nothing but sincereness in his gaze, she wrapped her arms around his bare chest and nuzzled her face into his neck.

"It really is", she whispered against the skin of his throat, planting a soft kiss on it.

Loki put his arms around her and pulled her flush against himself, his hand buried in her curly hair, and she sighed blissfully as she closed her eyes.

The god took a deep breath as he lowered his head and brushed his lips on Emily's forehead, smiling when she hummed softly in response. He felt so quiet, so peaceful - he almost felt drunken with bliss, and for a brief second he found himself wondering if it truly had been him that had once said that satisfaction was not in his nature.

It had clearly been before he had met Emily.

 

 

 


	35. A Moment Like This

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wish I could give kudos to you all for your amazing patience, I know that the slow burn in this story is torture! To celebrate a very special moment, this chapter is extra long :) I hope you enjoy it!

Yes, she'd definitely had too much to drink. Not that she'd had any doubt about that last night, but when she woke up the next morning, her head a painfully throbbing mess and her stomach clenched up from nausea, Emily was dead certain about it.

When the memory of how Tony had caught her with his helmet on sneaked back into her mind, she groaned, her cheeks burning with shame. God, and then she had almost -

She sat up in her bed in an instant, fully awake now.

_Oh dear god, she had tried to kiss Loki._

She had tried to kiss him, she had asked him to spend the night with her, and she assumed that she would have done much more than just kissing him if Loki hadn't reacted the way he had. _Thank god_ he had reacted the way he had, she wouldn't be able to look into his eyes if she had thrown herself at him in her wasted state.

Speaking of Loki - where was he, anyways? She felt her heartbeat fasten when she remembered that she had fallen asleep in his arms - why wasn't he here, then?

"Loki?" she said, her voice small, but there was nothing but silence in her apartment.

Emily closed her eyes. The poor guy had probably seized the opportunity to escape as soon as she'd fallen asleep.

"Good morning, Ms Bloomfield!"

The loud, kind voice startled Emily so much that it took her a second to realize that it was JARVIS'.

"Uh, good morning, JARVIS."

"Mr Stark has asked me to deliver a message to you as soon as you are awake."

Emily felt her heart clench up. That couldn't mean anything good. Maybe Tony wasn't as amused as he'd seemed to be, after all. But would he really let his computer fire her? Well, yeah, now that she thought about it, that actually did seem like something Tony would totally do if he was pissed off badly enough.

"JARVIS - am I fired?"

The computer's voice sounded amused. "Not at all, Miss. Mr Stark merely wanted to let you know that, considering the amount of alcohol you consumed yesterday, you are free to take a day off to recover and - and I quote - leave your bottle stealing little bum at home today."

Emily felt her cheeks redden. "Good idea", she mumbled, and then frowned. "Hey, wait - JARVIS - how do you even know when I'm awake? Do you - watch me sleeping?"

"Of course not. I only monitor and analyze everybody's vital parameters."

"Oh, now that's much less disturbing", Emily muttered, but her eyes widened when she was struck by a sudden thought. "Everybody's? So you monitored Loki, too?"

"I monitor the vital parameters of every being in this tower, including you, Mr Friggason and even your and Mr Friggason's cat, which, if I may add, has already been fed and is currently sleeping on Mr Stark's desk, much to his annoyance."

"Uh - okay - so, can you - um - can you tell me when Loki has left my apartment?"

"I apologize, but you have no authority to call up anyone's parameters beside your own."

Emily sighed. "Damn. Hey, wait - um, look, technically, I don't want to know any specific parameters, right? I just want to know at what time Loki has left?"

JARVIS actually paused for a moment before he replied. "I assume that you would be authorised to call up this specific information, considering that it is your apartment he has left."

"Great! So?"

"Mr Friggason has left your apartment at 6 AM."

Emily let out a relieved sigh. So Loki had spent the night here, he'd only left early this morning. That was still a bit strange, though - he had never left before she had been awake. Her heartbeat fastened again.

"If I may add", JARVIS suddenly went on, his voice again quite amused, "Mr Friggason has taken great care to cover you up with a warm blanket before leaving and he has also prepared breakfast for you in the living room."

Emily beamed. "Really?"

"I have no reason to lie, Miss."

"So he wasn't pissed or anything?"

"I would highly doubt that."

With another sigh, Emily let herself fall back into her bed, rubbing her eyes. If Loki had made her breakfast, he probably wasn't mad at her.

"Thanks, JARVIS. Um, can you say thank you to Tony, too?"

"Of course."

After a minute, Emily's curiosity finally beat her hangover and even though she felt sick at the thought of actually eating something, she walked into the kitchen, wondering what Loki had prepared for her.

She didn't even realize how bright the smile was that flashed over her face when she arrived in the living room and looked at the dinner table. There was a plate with pancakes, a bowl with fresh fruits, scrambled eggs with bacon, a glass of orange juice and a big cup of surprisingly hot cappuccino - it was still steaming, just like the scrambled eggs.

 _Damn_ , Emily thought, completely stunned, _I just love his magic._

She sat down at the table and her smile widened even more when she found the little note Loki had left on her plate.

  
_My love,_  
_your breakfast will obviously be distinctly less pleasurable as usual due to the lack of my presence, but please try to enjoy it nevertheless._  
_Make sure to drink the red potion, too, it will help with your physical condition._  
_I will be back in the evening to have dinner with you._  
_Loki_

  
The tears that were burning in the corners of her eyes were a confusing contradiction to the bright smile on Emily's face, and for a second she wasn't even sure what exactly it was that she was feeling. Why did she feel the need to cry, for god's sake? She let her fingers wander over the thick paper with the - of course, she thought amused - emerald green, stunningly elegant handwriting, and suddenly had to suppress the overwhelming and absolutely childish urge to press it against her mouth and plant a kiss on it.

My love.

_My love!_

Loki had called her a few nicknames already - darling, little one, sweet one - and love had been one of them, too, but there was a difference between _love_ and _my love_ , right?

She read the note again, smiling fondly at it, before she put it aside, reaching out for the small glass vial with a crimson red liquid inside of it that she had not noticed before. It smelled really good, actually; like cherries and peppermint tea, and Emily downed it without hesitation. The taste took her by surprise; she had expected to taste - well, cherries and peppermint tea, obviously, but instead, it tasted like a strange mixture of cinnamon and something herbal that she didn't recognize and believed to have never tasted before.

The texture wasn't any different from water, but somehow it felt completely different in her mouth - it was soft and silky and she could feel it flow through her mouth, down her throat and into her body, leaving an odd, tingling sensation behind that was both pleasurable and unnerving and that distracted her so much that it took her a moment to notice the sudden absence of nausea, dizziness and headache. She felt great, really.

 _Yes,_ she thought in amazement, _I really love his magic._

Suddenly hungry, Emily started to eat the eggs and bacon, moaning in delight - seriously, those were just eggs and bacon, why did they taste so much better when Loki made them? Letting out a sigh of utter contentment, Emily reached for her cappuccino, and she couldn't help but giggle at the thought that Loki had actually been standing in her kitchen this morning to pour coffee into her big pink Hello Kitty mug.

Maybe she had been right, after all, when she had called him the god of cuteness a few weeks ago.

 

* * *

 

  
"You've got to be kidding me."

Loki rolled his eyes. "Stark, I -"

"No! Just no! I refuse to accept that!"

"I fear that you have no choice here, Stark."

"Goddamnit, you just want to give me a stroke or something, don't you?" Tony's expression was an amusing mixture of disbelief and rage, and for a brief second he looked as if he considered to rush towards Loki and give him a hard shake. " _It didn't feel right!_ You've been making sheep's eyes at Curly Sue for so long I've been considering to shear you and now that she finally wants you to do her, it doesn't _feel right?_ "

"I do not want to do her", Loki hissed through gritted teeth, "I want to -"

He fell silent, and Tony's eyes lit up.

"Aw, I can't believe it! You're such a romantic!"

"I am no such thing!"

"Yes, you are", Tony grinned, "That's why you didn't give it a go yesterday - you want your first time together to be all sweet and special and not some quick humping in between two drinks -"

Loki huffed. "Only you, Stark, would consider that decision particularly romantic. Really, I can only pity every woman that has ever had the misfortune of finding herself in your bed."

"I never heard anybody complain about my humping!"

Rolling his eyes again, Loki took a sip of his cappuccino.

"Are we done for today?" he asked eventually and let out a sigh when Tony smirked in response.

"Why, you got a date, Romeo?"

"As a matter of fact, I do."

Tony leaned back in his armchair and eyed the god sitting at the other side of the table. "Are you going to have a candle light dinner to woo your girl?"

Loki closed his eyes for a second. "Did I ever tell you that I regret not having successfully murdered you when I had the chance?"

Tony grinned. "Well, that ship has sailed now, buddy. You need any advices for tonight?"

Snorting, Loki finally rose from his chair. "Trust me, I do not need your advice to successfully court a woman, Stark. You seem to forget that I am a millennium older than you. "

"Oh? How many women from this planet have you successfully courted in this millennium, then?"

Loki halted his movements and furrowed his brows, glancing pensively at Tony.

"Yeah, thought so. Sit down, Ani."

 

* * *

 

 

  
'Seize the day' was one of these stereotypical wisdoms that Emily truly despised.

She remembered sitting in one of her former therapists' office, staring at a big, colourful picture with this utterly meaningless, completely unhelpful little advice, and she had found herself wondering who the hell it had been that had decided to hang this picture up inside of a waiting room that was going to be crowded with people that were doing their best to just somehow _survive_ the very day this picture told them to seize.

When Emily had eventually been called into the office, she had considered asking the doctor if the oh so motivating little poster in her waiting room had been her idea, because in that case she could have just saved her time and leave to look for another therapist right away; but she had, of course, lacked the courage to actually do that. That had turned out to be a blessing, though, because this woman had proved to be really good at her job and she had helped Emily in ways she had never thought possible. But still - every single time that she had been sitting in this waiting room, she had been staring at the unnerving picture, wondering if her therapist would hold it against her if she were to seize the day and tear the poster down.

A few years later, as Emily was struggling to open her apartment's door in the Avengers tower, she couldn't help but giggle when she suddenly remembered this stupid picture and realized that 'seizing the day' had been exactly what she had done today.

After finishing her wonderful breakfast, she had called Tony to assure him that she could come to work if he needed her - an offer he had refused, much to Emily's relief - before she'd decided to grant herself a little break today. She had left the tower to go for a very long and very successful shopping spree (she had even bought herself a few new sets of lingerie, wondering if anybody might see them anytime soon - and with anyone, she meant Loki, even if she was too afraid to actually think of his name when pondering over lingerie) and she'd gone to a hairdresser before it had been time for the meeting of her support group. Emily had finally found the courage to talk about her feelings for Loki - without revealing his real name, of course - and to her utter relief, the rest of the group had actually encouraged her to get closer to him when she had told them about their friendship. After the meeting, Emily and three other women from the group had decided to have a coffee together, and they had had an incredibly merry afternoon before they had parted in the early evening.

And now, when Emily had finally managed to open her door and was dropping her shopping bags to her floor and herself to her wonderful pink couch, she couldn't stop grinning.

Maybe she should go and visit her former therapist tomorrow and let her know that, even if it had not exactly been owing to the god damn picture in her office, she had finally learned how to successfully seize the fucking day.

Now that she came to think about it, the day was far from being over, though - the best had yet to come, and it was what she had been looking forward to the entire day.

Loki.

All of a sudden, she felt giddy with excitement. They had met almost every day over the last months, but something was different today - to Emily, it felt like they were having their first date today, and she was quite certain that she was about to find out if it felt the same way to Loki.

She rose from her couch to pick up her purchases before she quickly jumped into the shower and then changed into some of her new clothes (and a new set of lingerie - you never know, right?). Just as she was done taming her hair and applying a bit of make up, she heard a distinctive knocking sound from the door.

It felt as if thousands of probably pink butterflies started to fly in Emily's stomach when she walked to the door, and she took a deep breath - unaware that Loki was doing the very same thing on the other side of the door - before she opened it.

"Hey", she said sheepishly and gave Loki a smile that he returned.

"Hello, Emily."

"Uh - do you want to come in?"

She rolled her eyes at herself. _No, Emily, he probably wants to stay outside of your apartment and spend his evening in the corridor._

He stepped inside and eyed her carefully. "Your hair is different."

"Uh, yeah, I - I got a haircut -" Emily grinned at him. "I can't believe you noticed that."

Loki frowned. "How could I not notice it? You look even more beautiful than before."

Emily was dead certain that Natasha would have diagnosed her with hot flushes again if she had been around.

"I - thank you, I -"

Luckily, Nolan chose this moment to bolt into Emily's apartment and spared her the rest of her awkwardly stuttered answer. The cat rushed past Loki, almost made Emily stumble over him and jumped onto the couch before he came to a standstill on its armrest and turned around to eye Loki and Emily, as if wondering why the hell they still kept the door open now that he was already inside.

Emily just shook her head at her cat's behaviour while Loki chuckled and approached the couch to pet Nolan's head.

"I think he is excited to have both of us in the same apartment again", Loki smirked, "He has had a hard time deciding where to sleep lately. He rather enjoyed the last night."

 _Well, so did I_ , both Loki and Emily thought, and they both blushed and tried to avoid the other one's gaze.

"Um", Loki said eventually, "I - I have a gift for you."

Emily, who had been grateful that Loki had been the one to break the awkward silence between them, now stared at him in confusion. "You what?"

"I have a gift for you", Loki repeated, "I have been told that it is a social convention on Midgard to bring someone who moves into a new apartment an item of furniture as a housewarming gift."

"Oh!" Emily felt her cheeks turn even warmer. "You really didn't have to do that - so that's not a thing on Asgard, then?"

Loki shrugged. "No, on Asgard, we usually gift a considerate amount of gold on such an occasion."

Emily laughed out. "I would have been perfectly fine with that, too." When Loki furrowed his brows, she quickly added, "I'm just kidding, that's really cute of you!"

As usual, Loki huffed at being called cute, but he still raised his hands and let a big, square-shaped box appear in a gleam of green. When the light vanished, Emily realized that the box was wrapped up in glittery pink paper, and she started giggling.

"Did you gift wrap that yourself? With _this_ paper?"

"Yes, I did. It was not easy, and your foolish cat certainly did not help."

Emily kept giggling when Loki handed her the big box. "My god, Loki, you even put a pink ribbon on top of it!"

Loki scowled at her, but Emily could see the smirk that was playing at his lips. "Indeed. I watched a guidance video on this website you have shown me -"

He let out a deep sigh when Emily burst into helpless laughter. "You watched a gift wrapping tutorial on YouTube?"

Loki crossed his arms. "Do not make me regret bringing a gift."

"I'm sorry", Emily replied, trying hard to keep a straight face.

When Loki sat down on Emily's pink couch with pretended disgust on his face, she followed his lead and smirked as she sat down next to him.

"You look truly godlike with pink flowers all around you."

Loki raised his eyebrows. "I shall deem you unworthy of keeping my gift if you do not cease mocking me."

"Fair enough."

Emily admired the huge pink package for another moment, still grinning at the mental image of Loki actually gift wrapping something for her, until she heard him clear his throat.

"You do realize that the gift is inside of the paper?"

"I do", she smirked, carefully starting to unwrap the big, but flat package. When she was finished, she gasped.

It was a huge canvas. The background had the exact same floral pattern as her couch; it was light pink with bright pink flowers. The smaller blossoms were actual flowers - stunningly beautiful, pink flowers that smelled so good that Emily closed her eyes for a second to take a deep breath. Something told her that these flowers would not wither over time.

But the bigger flowers were the ones that made her eyes water. There was a dozen of them, and every one carried an incredibly detailed, beautiful painting. The biggest one showed the picture that Emily had once taken with Loki while she'd been wearing his helmet; another one showed Tony and Loki after they had been messing with each other's hair. There was a painting of her and Natasha, laughing themselves silly, and another one of Emily, Thor, Loki and Tony, their arms linked, smirking into the camera. A smaller picture showed Loki and Emily as they were both cuddling with Nolan, and another one showed Steve, Clint and Bruce huddled together on a couch, taking a nap. There was half a dozen other pictures, and Emily's gaze wandered from flower to flower, her throat hurting from the effort it took to bite back her tears.

"My god, Loki -" she whispered eventually, "That's so - so - I -" She cleared her throat. "Did you do this? You - did you draw all this?"

Loki looked at the canvas and raised his shoulders. "Yes. I merely collected some of your favourite photographs and - well, painted them down."

Emily turned her head to look at him. Her voice was still nothing but a whisper. "You're - Loki, that's so, so beautiful -"

The god returned her look. "You said you were scared to be alone", he said quietly, "And I wanted to show you that you are not."

Emily swallowed. Tears had finally welled up in her eyes and she gave her best to blink them away. "Loki - I - thank you so, so much -"

"I hope you like it", Loki said with a frown, and Emily gaped at him.

"Oh god, of course I do! I love it! It's - I - I don't even know what to say!" She brushed her fingertips against the canvas and touched one of the flowers, smiling fondly at it before she carefully placed it on the table and turned around to throw her arms around Loki's chest. "Thank you", she repeated, her voice choked with emotions.

"You're welcome, darling."

When Emily let go of Loki after a moment, she pointed at the wall opposite of the couch, beaming. "It would be perfect for this wall! What do you think?"

Loki nodded, a light smile on his face. He was relieved that Emily liked his gift so much, he'd been quite insecure about it. Taking the canvas from the table, he stood up and approached the wall Emily had pointed at.

"Here?"

Emily had followed him and eyed the wall thoughtfully. "A bit higher, I think - yes, perfect! Wait - don't you need a hammer or something?"

Loki smirked. "Unlike my brother, I am quite capable to solve problems without a hammer." He waved his hand and the canvas stayed in its place, glued to the wall.

Emily beamed at him. "Perfect!"

She stood beside him now, and when he turned around to look at her, she gave him a soft smile and wrapped her arms around him again. "Thank you so much, Loki, I - I love it."

Loki pulled her flush against himself, his hand unwittingly stroking over her head, and Emily nuzzled the side of her face into his chest, her eyes still glued to the painting.

After a moment, she suddenly let out a giggle. "You do know that everybody is going to see you with your braided hair now? And cuddling with Nolan? And with your arms linked to Tony's? You won't be able to deny that you're friends anymore now -"

Loki planted a soft kiss on her forehead. "If it makes you smile, darling, it is absolutely worth my shame."

Emily lifted her head slowly, carefully, and found Loki already looking down at her. He was so close to her - she could feel his strong arms wrapped around her body and the enticing warmth he was radiating, she could see the little blue sparks inside of his mesmerizing green eyes and each of his long, dark eyelashes, and for a moment, time seemed to stand still.

And then she drew closer to him, inch by inch, until their lips finally touched, and they both closed their eyes in delight.

It was a soft, gentle kiss that only lasted for a few seconds, but still seemed to capture the magic of an entire blissful eternity.

When Emily let go of Loki and tilted her head back to carefully look into his eyes, anxiously searching for any sign of rejection, she was endlessly relieved to see a stunned smile on his face instead. For a few breathless seconds, they just looked at each other without saying a word before Loki cupped Emily's face with his hands and gently brushed his lips against hers again.

Eventually, Emily was the one who parted her lips, and Loki happily seized the opportunity to let their tongues touch each other. He almost moaned at the sensation - he had never felt anything so good, so _real_ before - Emily tasted divine, and to touch her, to _feel_ her, was indescribable. His left hand still held her face, his thumb tenderly brushing over her cheek, while the other one ran through her hair, and he was vaguely aware that Emily's hands were wandering down his neck, caressing his skin with her soft touch.

They didn't know how long they were standing in front of the painting, completely lost in themselves and the moment they were sharing, caressing each other's bodies, hugging, kissing, indulging in each other's warmth and closeness. Eventually, they pulled away from each other, Loki's green eyes glued to Emily's brown ones again; both faces slightly flushed and their lips glossy, their hands still tightly intertwined as if they were afraid that somebody might try to separate them from each other.

Emily was the first to say something, her voice hoarse.

"That's the best fucking housewarming gift in the history of housewarming gifts."

Loki chuckled, his voice even deeper than usual. "Are we still talking about the painting?"

"The painting earns the second place."

Raising her hand to his lips, Loki planted a soft kiss on her knuckles, and Emily couldn't help but giggle.

"Are you laughing about me?"

She shook her head. "Not at all. I wouldn't dare to, you're my god, remember?"

Loki smirked, pulling her flush against himself again. "Oh, you finally yield to your fate, then?"

Emily, nuzzling her face into his chest, took a deep breath to inhale Loki's scent before she replied. "I don't yield to my fate. I happily embrace it."

Loki squeezed Emily as tightly as he could without crushing her. After a moment, he took a deep breath. "So - um - you - you approve of this?"

She wriggled a bit to make Loki loosen his hug, and when he did, she lifted her head and looked up at him. "Approve of this?"

Loki made a circular movement between his and Emily's chests. " _This._ "

She couldn't help but laugh. "Was I too subtle when I kissed you?"

The god of mischief blushed a little. "No, I was just - I was not sure if you wanted - uh - if you wanted this."

Emily's eyes widened. "You weren't sure if I wanted this? _I_ wasn't sure if _you_ wanted this!"

"Why in the nine realms would I not want this?"

"Why in the nine realms would _I_ not want this?"

Loki chuckled. "It sounds cute when you say that."

Emily stuck out her tongue and then gasped and instinctively closed her eyes when she felt as if freezing water ran over her body. When her eyes snapped back open and she found herself sitting on the couch, nuzzled into Loki's arms, she frowned and tilted her head to the side.

"Did you just teleport us onto the couch?"

"I thought it would be more comfortable."

She giggled. "Yeah, sure, but - that's like three steps, we could have walked them, you know."

Loki cocked his head. "I did not want to wait any longer to finally do _this._ "

With a mischievous grin he moved towards her to cup her face with one hand and gently push against her shoulder with the other, urging her to lie down on the couch. Before she even realized what he was doing, his mouth was already pressed against hers, and she closed her eyes in delight when the amazing sensation of their tongues touching each other sent a fresh wave of arousal through her body.

Loki was leaning over her, his strong chest pushed against hers, his lips and his tongue passionately exploring Emily's sweet mouth while his hands were still caressing her face and her neck. For just a split second he found himself astonished by the feelings their kisses evoked in him - he had kissed plenty of women over the last centuries, but never had he felt anything even remotely resembling to what he was feeling now; these sparks, no, this _blazing fire_ of warmth and affection and pure passion -

Emily's hands were running through his hair now, and it felt so good that he almost moaned out at her touch.

Eventually, Loki pulled back slightly and opened his eyes when he ran out of breath, and Emily looked up at him with glazed eyes.

"Good thing you beamed us", she rasped, "I couldn't have waited any longer, either."

Loki chuckled as he nuzzled his face into the crook of Emily's neck, covering it with soft kisses that made her moan quietly. She suddenly felt the irresistible desire to touch him, to feel him, to allow her hands to explore his defined muscles that were pushing against her stomach and her breasts, and she let her hands slip under his shirt and wander over his bare chest. Loki took a sharp breath at her touch and his kisses instantly became more passionate.

They were kissing, touching and teasing each other for a while until Emily's stomach suddenly growled loud enough for both of them to hear it. Loki lifted his head and smirked at her while Emily's face became uncomfortably hot.

"Could you be hungry, my love?"

_My love._

Dear god, it had been amazing to read it in Loki's handwriting, but that was nothing to actually hearing him say it with his deep, beautiful voice.

Emily had been lost in Loki's eyes for a moment, and when she realized that he was waiting for an answer, she cleared her throat. "Uh - yeah, I guess, a little. But - that's not - not important -"

Loki grinned. "As much as I would like to devour you right here and now, I think it would be wise if we had something a little more nutritious to eat first."

When Emily made a disapproving sound, Loki laughed out and gave her a quick peck on the lips.

She sighed. "I didn't even start cooking yet, though, I wasn't sure when you'd come home -"

Loki gave her a smile. "I have already taken care of our dinner."

"Oh? You have?"

"I have."

Before Emily could say another word, Loki had already pressed his lips against hers, and when the familiar feeling of cold water rushed through her again and made her gasp, Loki chuckled against her mouth, tightening the embrace he had pulled her into until they were standing on their feet again.

"There we are, darling."

When Emily opened her eyes, she slapped Loki's chest playfully. "Can't you warn me before you do that?"

"I find it much more enjoyable this way."

Grinning, Emily glanced at their new surroundings. The room was bathed in candlelight and she could hear quiet music playing in the background.

"Hey, this is Tony's private restaurant!"

Loki, taking Emily's hand and gently guiding her towards the table at the huge glass front, nodded. "Indeed. You might remember that I shared a dinner with a friend of Stark's here some time ago, and I thought it was time to bring a woman here that I actually appreciate to have at my side." At the mention of his date with Tony's friend, Emily grimaced, and Loki eyed her insecurely. "If you would prefer to eat somewhere else -"

"No, not at all", Emily quickly said, "It's wonderful, I -" When they reached the window facade and Emily's gaze fell onto New York's lit up skyline, her mouth dropped open. "Wow, that is - spectacular."

Pulling her flush against himself, Loki planted a kiss on Emily's head. " _You_ are spectacular, darling."

Emily giggled as she turned her head and looked at Loki. "I never knew you could be so corny."

Loki smirked and cupped her face with both his hands. "I am the god of mischief. I am full of surprises." He brushed his lips against Emily's, savouring the taste of her, and chuckled when he heard her stomach growl again. "But for now, dinner seems to be more appropriate."

Emily, her face hot, shot him an apologetic look. "I'm sorry - I -"

After silencing her with another kiss, Loki motioned her towards the laid table. When she sat down, she let her gaze wander over the table - the lit candles, the glasses with champagne, the vase with a single, red rose in it - and lifted her head to meet Loki's slightly nervous eyes.

"I can't believe that you've done all this for me", she whispered, and Loki smirked.

"I told you I am full of surprises."

Emily laughed out, quickly wiping away a tear that had gotten caught in her eyelashes.

"So", Loki went on, "You do like it here? Because you looked quite unpleased when we arrived -"

"I love it here!" she assured him, "I absolutely love it!"

"Why the look of distaste, then? Oh!" Loki's eyes widened when he finally realized. "It was because of that woman?"

Emily blushed. "You mean Miss Most Beautiful Woman Of The World?"

Loki burst into laughter. "She was completely unappealing, plain and boring." His eyes were twinkling. "But I do remember your strange behaviour on this particular evening - my love, do you mean to tell me that you have been jealous?"

Her face was glowing with heat. "I - what - jealous, no - I just - I didn't - she -"

Loki chuckled while Emily was stuttering incoherently, and after a few more awkward - and futile - attempts of saving her dignity, she gave up.

"You're mean."

Loki was still smiling brightly. "And you are cute."

Emily huffed, and when Loki raised his glass with champagne, she happily followed his lead.

 

* * *

 

  
They were halfway through their delicious dinner when Loki noticed that Emily seemed to look a bit unsettled. Their evening had been delightful so far - actually, Loki was overjoyed with how things were developing - but something seemed to be off. He couldn't shake off the impression that Emily was holding something back, and slowly, but steadily, a feeling of uncertainty started to nag at him. When he caught her taking a breath and opening her mouth only to close it and gaze into nothingness again, he cleared his throat.

"Emily? Is everything alright?"

She looked at him in surprise. "Of course!"

He frowned. "No, it is not. That was not the truth. What is it?"

Closing her eyes for a second, Emily let out a deep sigh. "I'm sorry. I - It's nothing serious, just -"

"Just?"

"Just something that I've been talking about with - well, with my group today. And with Natasha, too."

An uncomfortable feeling of apprehension began to crawl into Loki's chest.

"Concerning me?"

Emily hesitated. "Concerning us."

Loki gritted his teeth. Well, what a surprise this was. It had all been too good to last, of course, but he had to admit that he had been hoping for it to at least last longer than a few hours. What a fool he had been.

"See, the thing is -" she started, but Loki interrupted her.

"There is no need for an explanation", he said shortly, "I understand."

Emily frowned. "What?"

"You do not wish for _this_ -" he motioned a circle between them, "- to continue. I have expected that, which is why I have asked you earlier if you approved of -"

"No! No, that's not what I'm trying to say!" Emily said quickly, "Not at all! It's just - it just scares me a little."

Loki watched her warily, clearly not understanding what she was trying to say. She took a deep breath.

"See - my relationship with Nick hasn't been that long ago. I wasn't sure if I was ready for - for this, but then I realized how much you mean to me and - I just wanted to let go of everything that has happened with him, because - because I really care about you, Loki." She had looked into his eyes until now, but suddenly, she lowered her head and avoided his gaze. "But when I was with Nick - I kind of gave him everything I had, everything I _was_ , and he just took it all until there was nothing left of me anymore. And I feel like I'm still trying to put myself back together. And I don't know if - if - I'm ready to give myself away again."

Loki's gaze had softened, and when he started to speak, his voice was tender and soothing. "I would never ask you to give yourself away. And I will never take anything from you."

Emily's eyes were still glued to the table. "I know. I know that you're different, and you'd never -" She took a deep breath and looked up to meet his gaze again. "Can I ask you something, and you promise that you won't be mad?"

"I promise."

"What do you think I would do if you ever hit me?"

Loki looked genuinely shocked. "Emily, I would never - _never_ -"

"I know", she hurried to say, "I know, really. It's not that I'm scared of you; I'm scared of myself. I know you'd never hurt me, but I just wonder what I would do if that ever happened."

Still with a look of sheer indignation on his face, Loki replied firmly, "Well, I hope that you would hit me back!"

Emily smiled faintly. "I wish I could say that, but I really don't know. I might as well think that I obviously don't deserve anything else and just let it happen."

"Like you did with Nick", Loki said slowly.

"Yes."

They were sitting in silence for a while.

"You mean so much to me, Loki", Emily whispered eventually, "But I'm - I just don't know if I'm ready for - I don't even _know_ what I'm ready for and what not."

Loki hummed thoughtfully. "Is there anything that could help you to feel safe?"

"I don't know - I thought maybe we could just - you know - take it slow, one step at a time - if that's okay with you?"

"Absolutely." Loki finally reached out for her hand and planted a kiss on it. "We will proceed as slowly as you wish, my love. One step at a time."

Squeezing his hand gratefully, Emily heaved a sigh of relief.

"You do know that I would never hurt you or allow anybody else to hurt you, though, do you not?" Loki asked carefully.

Emily gave him a warm smile. "I do. I trust you implicitly, Loki. It's really not about you, it's about me. I just feel so - so vulnerable after everything that has happened, and I'm - I'm -"

"You are scared of allowing another person to come close enough to hurt you."

"I - well - yes", Emily admitted quietly, lowering her gaze. She felt tears stinging in the corners of her eyes and blinked angrily. "God, I'm so sorry I'm making things so complicated - I'm such a mess -"

When she looked up, she fell silent. Loki was grinning at her.

"Why - why are you grinning?"

"Emily", Loki said softly, "Do you remember how I told you that I have never loved anyone that I have been with?"

"Yes, of course."

"That was the truth. I have been with both women and men before, but I have never felt anything for them. That is probably the reason why it took me so long to realize what I feel for you, too - anyhow, what I am trying to tell you is that this is all new to me. And I have never been a very trusting person to begin with, which is why - why _this_ -" He made another gesture between their chests, and Emily suddenly felt a maddeningly heavy load being taken off her mind.

"You mean you're scared, too?"

Loki scrunched up his nose in distaste at her choice of words, but then, he smiled softly. "You are not allowed to ever use this word with reference to me when Stark is around, but yes, I am. I am scared shitless, as you midgardians would say."

Emily laughed out. "Really? And you're not just - you know, saying that to comfort me?"

"Emily, I consulted _Stark_ today to prepare myself for our date."

"Seriously?" Now giggling shamelessly, Emily pointed at the rose and the candle on their table. "Hence the decoration, the champagne and the corny music?"

Loki growled. "He _swore_ that this is considered romantic among midgardian women."

"Yes, it is", Emily smirked, "It's incredibly cute, Loki. Thank you. And to know that you took an advice from Tony for me -"

"Let us not speak about this disgraceful chapter of my life anymore."

"Fair enough", Emily chuckled. Then she eyed him thoughtfully. "You really are scared, too, then?"

Loki smirked. "Do you remember when I was under the influence of this midgardian potion and kissed you? When I awoke the next morning and realized what I had done, my first instinct was to kill someone to have Odin imprison me so I would not have to face you and my irritating feelings for you."

Emily burst into loud laughter that Loki joined.

"So I guess we both have a few bonding issues, huh?" she grinned when she finally managed to stop giggling.

"Indeed."

"And - what do we do now?"

Loki smirked. "Somebody suggested to take it slow, you know, one step at a time."

"Really? That must be one hell of a clever person."

When Loki raised his glass with a grin, Emily happily joined him, and once both of them had taken a sip of their champagne, she couldn't hold herself back from leaning over the table and give Loki a quick kiss on the lips. She was just about to lean back again when Loki reached out to touch her neck and pull her back to press his lips against hers again.

Take it slow or not, he thought as their tongues started caressing each other, but now that he knew what it was like to kiss Emily, he would definitely not spend a single day of their lives without indulging in the sensation of her soft tongue touching his again.

 

* * *

 

 

"Oh god, I can't eat another bite", Emily moaned when Loki offered her the rest of his crème brulée, "I'm going to burst. And I swear, if you teleport us now, I'll throw up."

"We shall take the elevator, then."

"Thank you for your understanding, Your Highness."

"You should know, darling -" Loki said with a deep voice, "- that I find it _highly_  arousing if you call me so."

Emily smirked. "Really? What about Your Majesty or my prince? Or - my god?"

"You are playing with fire, my dear", Loki growled, "There is no way I will be capable to take it slow if you keep calling me that."

Emily laughed as she reached out for Loki's dessert - full or not, this was the most delicious thing she'd ever eaten in her entire life - and when she saw Loki's gaze wandering over New York's skyline, she smiled warmly at him.

"New York's grown on you, hasn't it?"

"I may have developed a fondness for one or two of its inhabitants", Loki smirked, winking at her. "But yes, I have to admit, it is a beautiful sight, especially at night. Nothing compared to Asgard, of course."

"Of course", Emily said solemnly, and Loki shot her a scolding look.

When she couldn't keep her straight face anymore and the corners of her mouth started to twitch, Loki grinned. "I must say, you have become shockingly cheeky, my dear."

"I apologize...  _Your Highness_."

With a mixture of a chuckle and a growl, Loki rose from his chair and reached out for Emily's hand. "Come here, my love."

"Oh oh", Emily laughed as she stood up and took Loki's hand, "Am I in trouble now?"

But Loki wrapped his arms around her body and pulled her into a tight embrace, planting a kiss on the top of her head. "Yes, darling, you definitely are", he purred.

Emily nuzzled her face into Loki's chest. "I think I can live with this kind of trouble."

When Loki touched her chin and lifted her head to look into her eyes, she gave him a fond smile before their lips met and they lost themselves in each other's touch. For a moment, they just stood there, wrapped up in a tender embrace, their lips whispering wordless promises to each other, and they were both lost to the world, to time, to everything.

And then, a series of loud popping sounds abruptly interrupted their kiss and made them both flinch.

They exchanged confused looks before they realized that the noise was coming from outside, and when their heads turned to the beautiful skyline outside of the window again, Emily's mouth dropped open.

The dark, peaceful night was illuminated with the most beautiful, spectacular fireworks she had ever seen - the starry heaven was sprinkled with exploding stars of all colours and glittery trails of silver and gold. The colourfully bursting sparks lit up the entire sky.

"Loki", Emily gasped, "Did you - is that -"

Loki, also gaping at the colourful explosions in front of him, shook his head. "This is not my doing -"

They both flinched again when the crackling sounds were suddenly drowned by loud music.

 

 _Some people wait a lifetime for a moment like this_  
_Some people search forever for that one special kiss_  
_Oh, I can't believe it's happening to me_  
_Some people wait a lifetime for a moment like this_

 

The song kept playing, but Loki and Emily had not even had time to react to it yet when something outside of the windows caught their attention again - and while they had already been overwhelmed by the sight before, it had been nothing against the fireworks display they were looking at now.

There were still countless colourful explosions scattered all over the sky, but in the middle of the spectacle, several rockets were bursting into a gigantic heart of golden sparks that was framing two big letters: a green L and a pink E.

Loki and Emily were gazing at the colourfully illuminated sky for a few very long, breathless seconds while Kelly Clarkson was still belting out her heart-touching hymn about the one true love at full volume.

Then, Emily burst into a loud, hearty fit of laughter.

Loki on the other hand let out a deep growl.

"I am going to _kill_ him for this."

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear, I could hear angels' sing when I wrote their first kiss.  
> And don't blame me for that picture, I couldn't sleep and was bored :D


	36. Obeying Orders

"I'm still not sure."

Loki frowned at Emily as he pressed the button with their floor number. "You mean - about us?"

"No - whether the fireworks or your face when you saw them was the best thing I've seen today."  
  
Huffing, Loki put his arm around Emily's waist to pull her closer to himself and nuzzled his nose against her neck. "Well, I can certainly tell you what the best thing you are going to see tomorrow will be."

Emily chuckled and turned around to face Loki. "How you're bringing me breakfast in bed?"

"I was going to say how I'm murdering Stark. But breakfast in bed sounds desirable, too."

"Come on", Emily giggled, "You found it cute, too, just admit it!"

The elevator stopped at this very moment and Loki and Emily stepped out of it, slowly walking towards their apartments.

"I did not. And he will die."

"Hm. That's a shame, really. I liked him. And I'll have to find a new job then, you know, with my boss being dead and everything -"

When she let out an exasperated sigh, Loki gave her an amused look. "Well, if my intentions to kill another will cause you inconveniences, I shall reconsider my plans, darling."

"That's so sweet of you", Emily said earnestly, and Loki chuckled.

"Anything for you."

They had reached Loki's door and Emily turned around to look at him. "So -" she said with a playful grin, "Your place or mine?"

Loki smirked. He had not been sure if Emily was going to spend the night with him, but he was most pleased with her decision. "I believe I still owe you a few nights that we will spend in your pink abomination."

Emily grinned, pressing her thumb against the fingerprint scanner next to her door. "So you choose to cuddle up in my flowered bedwear of your own volition? Just checking -"

"As I said - anything for you."

They were still grinning when they walked into the bedroom. When Emily's gaze fell onto her bed, though, she felt the smile slip from her face in a matter of seconds.

_Damn. Maybe I didn't think this through._

"Emily?"

Loki had noticed the sudden change in her expression and the way her body had suddenly turned rigid, but before she could reply, he had already followed her nervous gaze, and he understood immediately. He sneaked an arm around her waist from behind and nuzzled his face into her hair to whisper into her ear.

"No worries, little one. One step at a time, remember?"

Feeling as if he had just lifted the weight of the world off her shoulders, Emily turned around and wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face in his chest.

"Thank you", she murmured quietly, and Loki planted a kiss on the top of her head.

"No need for that. Would you prefer if I slept in my own bed?"

"Um - well -" Emily bit into her lip, "We've already been sleeping inside of the same bed for months, right? Wouldn't it technically be a step backwards if we were sleeping in separated beds now? I mean -"

Loki couldn't help himself, he burst into laughter. "Darling, you really have no need at all to convince me to share your bed with you. If you want me to, I will be happy to do so."

She grinned bashfully, still hiding her flushed face in his chest. "Yeah - uh - I'd love you to stay with me. But, uh - can we - you know - not take any more steps tonight?"

"We can", Loki assured her, his fingers running through her hair.

"I'm sorry if -"

"No apologies, little one."

"Right. Sorry. Uh - I mean - Okay." She chuckled insecurely. "I'm going to the bathroom, okay?"

Loki smirked. "Permission granted."

Emily gave him a playful slap against his chest before she walked into the bathroom while Loki wandered into the kitchen to feed Nolan. The cat was already miaowing impatiently, obviously quite indignant about his lonely evening, and Loki petted him thoughtfully when he started gobbling down his food.

He was pleased that Emily wanted him to stay with her, although she obviously didn't want to get intimate with him yet, and of course, he agreed with her decision (even though he would have agreed with another decision with much more enthusiasm); but he had to admit that he was rather insecure about the change in their relationship and the correct order to proceed with it. This was probably what people called courtship - but actually, Loki didn't really have any experience with that. He had never waited for anyone before, and nobody had ever asked him to wait before, either. His way of courting another had usually consisted of one or a couple of passionate nights followed by mutual indifference (or one-sided indifference and a broken heart that he had also felt indifferent about). But this? A romantic dinner followed by a night in the same bed without any carnal pleasures?

The problem was not that he was annoyed or frustrated, he wasn't even even severely disappointed - they would have all the time in the realms, after all - he was simply unsure of how to behave. Should they be cuddling? Kissing? Was he supposed to be naked or dressed? Would it be appropriate to touch her?

He sighed. If there was one thing he had never bothered to think about, it was appropriate behaviour. This devilish mortal woman sure had a remarkable effect on him.

When said devilish woman returned from the bathroom in a pink pajama, she was surprised to find Loki already lying inside of her bed. She crawled under the blanket, keeping some space between them, and then looked at him with a frown.

"This is awkward", she stated, and Loki smirked.

"It is not only me who feels uncomfortable then?"

She chuckled, clearly relieved. "No, definitely not. Can't we just - behave normally and do everything just the way we always did?"

Loki gave her a mischievous smirk. "That would include you lying on top of me, though."

Emily couldn't suppress a grin when she nodded, trying to ignore the heat that was crawling into her cheeks. "Actually, I've been looking forward to that ever since we left the couch."

"Well then, darling", Loki purred, "Be my guest."

When Emily shifted closer to him, she frowned. "Hey - are you wearing a shirt?"

Loki blushed a little. "I am indeed. I thought that was - more appropriate." Noticing Emily's sudden look of sheer disappointment, he chuckled. "I can undress, if you so wish."

A "Definitely!" had slipped out of her mouth before she could stop it, and she was certain that her cheeks were glowing by now. "I mean", she added defensibly, "You've always slept with a bare chest -"

"That is true. We do not want to take a step backwards, after all", Loki teased her, and Emily grinned with a look of guilt on her face.

When Loki's shirt vanished and revealed his muscular upper body, Emily couldn't stifle a contented sigh, and Loki smirked as he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer. She closed her eyes in delight for a moment, enjoying the warmth of his chest pressing against her cheek, before she lifted her head to look at Loki and say something. When she found Loki smiling down at her, she couldn't resist brushing her lips against his instead.

"I'm sorry that I'm making things so complicated", she whispered against his lips after a long kiss, and Loki shook his head.

"No apologies, remember?"

"Yeah", she murmured, "But -"

"No buts, either."

Emily hummed. "I might be running out of things to say if you keep forbidding me my favourites."

Loki chuckled, his hand running up and down her side, and Emily gave him another soft kiss on the lips before she settled on his chest. She let her hand wander over his naked skin, marvelling at the feeling of his strong muscles beneath her fingers, and had to stifle a longing sigh. Taking it slow turned out to be harder than expected. She knew that it was the right thing to do - she didn't want to rush things, and she wasn't sure if she was ready for the next step yet - but she had to admit that she felt a pleasant warmth spreading inside of her while she was caressing Loki's chest. And really, she thought dreamily, breathing in Loki's enticing scent, who could blame her - she was lying on top of a god, after all, who very much looked like one, too.

Running his hands through Emily's tousled hair, Loki gave his best to behave and keep his hands where he could see them - he wasn't sure if Emily was aware of the effect her touch had on him, but as long as she didn't initiate their next step, he was determined to not let her know about it. If there was one thing he didn't want to do, it was to rush her into anything she did not want yet. He thanked the norns that his body was covered with a fluffy blanket from the waist down.

"Thank you", Emily suddenly said quietly, her breath sending shivers over Loki's naked skin, "For the evening, and - for everything."

Loki smirked. "I know how you could reward me for it."

He noticed how Emily immediately tensed up at his words and almost started spluttering when he realized what she thought he was implying. "You can give me permission to kill Stark", he quickly added, and was endlessly relieved when Emily's entire body relaxed in an instant.

"I'll think about it, I promise", she giggled eventually.

He planted another kiss on her head and Emily sighed happily. She was playing with his hair now, turning it into a curly mess, but somehow, Loki couldn't care less if his hair looked ridiculous - it felt fantastic to just lie here with Emily, to touch her and to be touched, to hold her and caress her without having to think about anything else than this very moment.

"You know", he said eventually, his voice softer than Emily had ever heard before, "I think you already are the best reward I could imagine."

  
  


* * *

 

 

Waking up with Emily in his arms had always been delightful, but it felt even better now that Loki could cover her face in kisses the very second he had opened his eyes. She let out a soft sigh in her sleep and Loki smiled fondly at the peaceful expression in her face.

He repositioned her carefully and rather reluctantly to move away from her, and he couldn't suppress a quiet chuckle when he noticed the slight frown that appeared on his sleeping beauty's face at the loss of his body beneath her. As much as he would have liked to stay in bed with Emily forever, they would still have enough time for that later - for now, there was a breakfast in bed waiting to be prepared.

Loki stood up and stretched his arms before he followed Nolan through the apartment. The cat had been sleeping between Loki's and Emily's legs and was now already on his way into the kitchen - the clever little furball knew exactly what to expect when one of them left the bed in the morning, the god of mischief noticed amused.

Fifteen minutes later, Loki smirked down at Emily, who was scrunching up her nose at the tickling sensation of Nolan's tongue trailing over her cheek. She was still sound asleep and obviously determined to stay so. With a mischievous smile, Loki dipped his finger into the butter again to dab it on Emily's nose, watching with amusement how eager Nolan was to lick it off. This time, Emily groaned quietly.

"Nolan, stop that - bah -"

She yawned and, her eyes still closed, reached out for her cat to gently push him away from her face. Loki couldn't stifle his laughter anymore, and finally, Emily opened her eyes.

"Oh, hey -"

"Hey", Loki replied, "My apologies for waking you."

"You didn't", Emily sighed, "Nolan did - he licked my face -"

"Is that so", Loki grinned and nudged her cheek with a buttered finger.

When Nolan happily started to lick over Emily's face again, she let out another groan that turned into a chuckle when the cat resisted her feeble attempts of pushing him away.

"Seriously, you - you buttered my face?"

"I merely gave your cat something to eat."

"And you had to make him eat it from my face?"

Loki chuckled. "It was highly amusing."

Emily finally sat up, rubbing over her face with the sleeve of her pajama, and tried to glare at Loki, but she couldn't keep a straight face and shook her head instead, giggling. "You're -" Before she could finish her sentence, she noticed the tray with food on her nightstand, and she gasped. "Oh my - Loki, did you make breakfast?"

"Indeed", Loki smiled, rather pleased with her joyful reaction, "Did you think I would ignore your remark of wishing for a breakfast in bed?"

"That was a _joke!_ I can't - god, you're so cute!"

As usual, Loki huffed at this. His indignation at being called cute once again did not last long, though, because Emily wrapped her arms around his chest and pressed her lips against his. When she let go of him, he gave her a meaningful wink.

"If I had known that this is your reaction to a breakfast in bed, I would have made you one months ago, love."

Emily laughed. When Loki handed her a cup of coffee, she sighed contentedly before taking a sip.

Loki took a sip of his own mug before he asked innocently, "Now would you like to follow Nolan's lead and lick your breakfast off my face?"

She choked on her coffee and started coughing uncontrollably, and Loki rubbed her back, obviously highly amused. When her coughing turned into laughter, he placed the tray with food between them, still grinning at her.

"Fine, no licking, then. Maybe another time. Enjoy your breakfast now, my love."

Emily felt a surge of joy at his nickname, and she gave him a soft smile. "Thank you, pookie."

They took their time with their breakfast - Loki had prepared a dozen of different dishes for them, and Emily couldn't resist trying every single one of them - and they were both enjoying throwing pieces of meat and cheese through the room to keep Nolan both busy and happy, too. After almost an hour of eating, chatting and kissing, Emily eventually looked at her phone and sighed.

"We should get ready for work. There's a meeting in half an hour."

Loki nodded. "I know. Um - did you think of how you wish to proceed with this -" Emily was barely able to hide a smile when Loki motioned a circle between their chests again, "- as far as the others are concerned?"

"You mean, if we should tell them?" When Loki nodded again, Emily frowned. "Uh - no, not really. I don't know - did you think about that?"

A wide grin crossed his face. "As a matter of fact, I did."

  
  


* * *

 

 

Tony looked up from his whiteboard with a bright, expectant smile when his assistant finally entered his office this morning. She was already a few minutes too late, and he was _really_ eager for news about last night. His expression quickly changed when he caught a glimpse of her face.

"Emily! Have you been crying? What's wrong?"

Emily, her eyes wet and her cheeks tear-stained, sniffed. "Oh please! As if you didn't know!"

"- What?"

"It's all your fault!"

Tony's eyebrows rose even higher. "What the hell do you mean?"

The poor girl couldn't hold back her laughter anymore and quickly hid her face behind her hands. Tony stared at what he assumed to be a crying Emily with wide eyes, horror-struck.

"I thought you were over the moon, what with you and Honey finally -"

"He's gone!" Emily exclaimed, "He was so angry because of the fireworks and everything - he said that it's all too much for him, and then he's left, Tony! Loki's back in Asgard!"

Tony's face fell. He had been walking towards Emily to comfort her, but he froze when he heard her last words. "He - what? That - oh c'me on, that was a _joke_ \- he can't -" When Emily faked a sob, he groaned ruefully. "Fuck, Em, I'm so sorry - yeah, well, I guess that might have been a bit much, huh - but I'd never thought - god, _fuck_ -"

Giggling into her hands, Emily felt a hint of guilt when she heard Tony's stuttering.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck", he muttered, "Em, I'm sorry - I'll talk to Thor - maybe he can - it was just a bit of fun - I was just - damn it, I thought he liked a bit of mischief!"

"Oh, I do", Loki said, suddenly standing right behind Tony, and Tony jumped out of his skin.

"Fuck!" he shouted, whirling around to look at Loki, "What the -"

When Tony noticed Loki's smirk and heard Emily burst into laughter behind him, he frowned. It took him a second to process the sudden change of atmosphere; then, he turned around in a swift movement and pointed a finger at Emily.

"You! How could you! I thought I broke your heart!"

"I'm sorry", Emily giggled, "It was the only way to talk him out of killing you -"

Tony huffed, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Betrayed by my own assistant! The only woman beside my fiancée that I would trust with my life! Lied to, without any sign of regret whatsoever!"

"Yeah, I guess we're even now - remember how you let me think that Loki was about to die?"

Tony opened his mouth to object, but closed it after a second of thinking. "Fair enough", he muttered eventually. Then, he turned back around to glare at Loki. "That's how you thank me for such a spectacular show?"

Loki nodded. "Precisely. Did you truly believe that I would let this go unpunished?"

Huffing, Tony sat down on his desk. "You two are unbelievable." Glancing between Loki and Emily, he narrowed his eyes. "So - what act of Romeo and Juliet am I actually watching at the moment?"

Loki smirked and walked over to Emily to pull her into his arms. When she looked up at him, he smiled softly before brushing his lips against hers to give her a long, sensual kiss that Emily returned with enthusiasm.

Tony almost squealed with joy at the sight.

"Damn, it was about time, you two", he stated, beaming at them, when they finally let go of each other's lips again.

Emily nodded happily. "My sentiments exactly."

Loki chuckled as he planted a feathery kiss on her forehead, and just when he wanted to draw back, she cupped his face to capture his lips once again. She just couldn't get enough of his touch and his taste - never in her life had she ever felt anything like this before. If it wasn't for this annoying necessity of breathing, she might have decided to never pull away again.

Tony watched the pair with a genuine smile on his face. It was hard to tell who the happiest person in the room was at this moment.

When Loki and Emily eventually let go of each other, a dreamy smile on their faces, Tony cleared his throat.

"So - yesterday -"

"We loved your fireworks", Emily assured him with a bright smile, but quickly corrected herself when Loki coughed quietly, "Fine, _I_ loved your fireworks, and Loki loved them, too, but would never admit it." Ignoring the god's glare, Emily beamed at her boss. "It was really spectacular! I don't even know how to thank you!"

"To see you two finally together is more than enough thanks", Tony assured her, "This whole romantic-comedy-thing you've had going was really getting on my nerves. Well then - I assume you two finally - what did you call it, Romeo - hopped into bed together?"

Loki shot him a warning glare, and Emily, blushing slightly, exclaimed, "Tony!"

"What?" Tony shrugged indifferently, "I just wanna know the current state of affairs - do you two still insist on being nothing more than friends?"

"You are insufferable", Loki stated, rolling his eyes, "Really, Stark, you should be grateful that Emily did not give me permission to murder you."

"Hey Em", Tony grinned, "Now that he's your boyfriend, can't you tell him to stop threatening me?"

It didn't escape his notice that both Loki and Emily looked down at the use of the term 'boyfriend', but he decided to have some mercy on them for now and to not quibble over details. There would be plenty of time for that in the next days.

Instead, he gave them a grin. "Come on, you two, give me another kiss."

Loki merely huffed, but Emily immediately turned to him. When he eyed her curiously, she shrugged.

"He's my boss, I'm just obeying orders."

The god didn't have much time to chuckle at this; Emily was already pressing her mouth against his and kissing him eagerly. Nobody noticed when the door to Tony's office opened again, and it wasn't until the Captain's voice sounded through the room that they realized they were not alone anymore.

"Is Fury coming?"

Letting go of each other, Loki and Emily turned around to look at Steve and Clint standing at the door.

"Fury?" Tony repeated, mildly surprised, "Not as far as I know. Why?"

Steve frowned, pointing at Loki and Emily who were still holding hands. "Isn't this another play to convince him of your faked relationship?"

Loki smirked. "Not exactly, no."

Clint eyed him warily. "What happened? You look alarmingly happy."

"Oh come on, guys!" Tony exclaimed, "Don't tell me you didn't see the fireworks last night!"

"I did", Steve replied, looking utterly confused, "But what does that have to - oh!" His eyes widened and he gaped at the couple standing in front of him. " _Oh!_ "

"Oh?" Clint repeated, looking baffled, "What does 'Oh!' mean?"

Bruce and Natasha chose this very moment to enter Tony's office, too, and they both frowned at Clint's question.

"Oh?" Natasha repeated, "Oh, what? Did we miss anything?"

"Miss anything?" Thor's voice thundered through the room before he'd even walked through the door, "What do you mean, what did we miss?"

Emily glanced at Loki and couldn't help but grin at his eye-rolling when his brother burst into the room. When she met Tony's amused gaze, he smirked, too.

"I think you two need to give an encore to the belatedly arrived part of the audience."

Loki met Emily's gaze rather amused. "Well, my love? Shall we obey orders again?"

Emily beamed. "Hell, yes!"

And under the eyes of the whole Avengers team, the god's and the mortal's lips found each other again to delve into another long and deep kiss.


	37. Carried Away

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for your patience and all your support!  
> I'm so sorry it took me so long to update, but I promise, I'm always doing the best I can and even if it takes me longer to post a new chapter, I will never abandon one of my stories.  
> I also want to say that, even if it takes me ages to reply to comments at the moment, I am forever grateful for every single one of them - your feedback means so much to me and your comments keep me so motivated!
> 
> I hope you like the new chapter :)
> 
> PS: Knowing our crazy fandom, most of you have probably been waiting for this, but: there's a little bit of smut to come, just in case you're uncomfortable with that :)

 

Tony insisted on having a drink to the 'young love' as he decided to call Loki's and Emily's blooming relationship - Loki had, once again, tried to tell him that he was around twenty times as old as Tony was, but to no avail - and when the rest of them stated that they'd rather not start drinking that early in the day, he decided to throw a party in the evening instead to celebrate the union of 'Emily and the snow princess'.

Roughly ten minutes after their arrival in Tony's office, Loki had already given Emily countless looks that had clearly said 'Stop him, or I will murder him after all', and eventually, she decided that it was for the best to separate them into different rooms for a while. When Loki was gone - a beaming Thor following him closely, which didn't seem to brighten Loki's mood in the slightest - Emily shook her head at Tony.

"You love to tease him, don't you?"

Tony shrugged. "I bet you prefer to do other things to him, but to each their own."

Emily couldn't help but laugh and Tony smirked.

"Seriously, Pinky Pie, I'm happy for the both of you. I was starting to doubt that you're actually going to make it one day. Thank God you did, it would have been such a waste to cancel those fireworks!"

"Wait", Emily said slowly, frowning at the sudden realization, "How did you manage that, anyways? How could you know when to - holy shit, did you _watch_ us?"

Tony raised his eyebrows. "Is that what you think of me, really? Of course not. I've had enough of the Lokily show for months to come; I wasn't going to watch a whole date of yours before I could be certain that you're actually going to end up in bed."

Emily shook her head, feeling her cheeks getting warm. "We didn't - _god, Tony_ \- but - but how did you know when to start the fireworks, then?"

"You've been working here for so long now, and yet you're still underestimating the genius that -"

"You let JARVIS monitor us, right?"

Tony pouted at her, and Emily giggled, shaking her head.

"I can't believe you let him watch us - what exactly did you tell him, anyways? 'Let me know when they're getting it on'?"

"Of course not", Tony replied, shooting her an indignant look. When Emily heaved a relieved sigh, he added, "I told him to let me know when you're getting it on in front of the window."

"God, Tony", Emily groaned, "Tell me again why I didn't allow Loki to kill you?"

"Because you love me", Tony beamed at her, "Not as much as you love Frosty, obviously, but still -"

Emily, who had just stolen a handful of blueberries from Tony's desk, threw one of the berries at him and marched straight out of his office and into her own, trying hard to ignore the sound of broad laughter that was following her.

   
  


* * *

 

 

"I am so happy for you, Loki!"

Loki rolled his eyes at Thor, but he couldn't hide the small smile that was tugging at his lips. "That is so good to hear, brother, as I consider it my only purpose in life to keep you in a cheerful mood."

Thor gave him a grin. He hasn't failed to notice the unintentional smile on his brother's face. "Yeah, you can mock me as much as you want, but I know you, brother." He pointed at Loki and continued, nudging his finger against Loki's chest at every word: "You - are - happy."

"Touch me again and you will regret it."

"Aw, to see my baby brother all happy and in love - I didn't expect that anymore, to be honest. Wait until mother -"

Loki narrowed his eyes. "You will not say a word to our mother, do you understand?"

Thor frowned. "Why? She doesn't have a problem with Jane, either, and I'm sure she would like Emily, too -"

Loki huffed. "Of course she would like her, how could she not. But I doubt that Odin would be pleased."

"Since when do you care whether father is pleased or not?"

"Oh please", Loki snorted, "I could not care less. But knowing him, he would actually be capable to decide that this is the appropriate time for my return to Asgard, and -"

He fell silent, and an ever brighter smile flashed over Thor's face.

"And you don't want to, right? You actually prefer to stay here on Midgard?"

At this very moment, Loki realized two things. First, yes, he did indeed prefer to stay on Midgard; and second - he and Thor had been walking side by side without any real destination and had, out of habit, just ended up inside of their training room.

Loki turned around and gave his brother a mischievous smirk that immediately put Thor on high alert, but it was too late for him to realize their surroundings - the god of mischief had already conjured up one of the asgardian swords from the weapon cabinet and made a swipe at him. Completely taken by surprise, Thor stumbled backwards to avoid the blow and landed on his butt.

"As graceful as ever, I see", Loki stated highly amused.

"Loki!"

"What?" Loki grinned, offering Thor his hand, "When we are in the training room, it is time for us to train, is it not?"

Thor scowled at him, but still leant forwards to take his hand. He let out an annoyed growl when his hand went right through Loki's and the illusion of his brother dissolved into green mist.

_"Loki!"_

"You sound like one of these midgardian birds", Loki teased from behind Thor, "Did you know that some of them keep repeating the same word over and over again?"

"Loki -"

"Exactly. What a sweet little bird you are, brother!"

Thor turned around in a swift movement to attack his brother, but again, he was fighting against a mere illusion. He turned again, lunged out again, and fell for an illusion again.

"Enough now", he huffed eventually, "No more illusions, Loki!"

Rolling his eyes, he let his gaze wander through the room until he finally spotted Loki, casually leaning against one of the walls with a sly grin on his face. He had obviously enjoyed every single second of Thor's fight against thin air. Thor shook his head as he walked over to him.

"For somebody who's happily in love, you are still rather insufferable."

"Oh, you never stopped being insufferable, either - I figured I'd follow your lead."

Again, Thor rolled his eyes. When he reached Loki, he carefully poked his chest and let out a relieved sigh when his finger finally touched his brother's body.

"About time. Thank Odin your illusions are not corporeal."

Loki smirked. "I am working on that."

"Great. That is going to be just great." Thor groaned when Loki nodded approvingly. "Whatever. Anyways, how about some real training now?"

"Why not. I will never tire of besting you."

Thor laughed, slapping on Loki's back. "You wish."

When they walked towards the weapon cabinet, he glanced at Loki. "You know, now that we're both courting women, we could go out together sometimes!"

Loki snorted. "Why in the nine realms would I want to go out with you and your pathetic mor-" He stocked and quickly corrected himself, "-woman?"

"This is getting better and better", Thor smirked. "Well, obviously, it's something midgardian couples do on a regular basis. They call it couple's nights. Jane and I had some with Tony and Pepper, but it always ends with Jane and Tony discussing science stuff -"

"Couple's nights", Loki shook his head in disgust, "That is ridiculous."

"Why don't we ask Emily?"

"I dare you, brother", Loki snapped, "And do not refer to us as a couple when you are around her. We - uh - take things slow."

Thor's mouth dropped open. "You take things _slow?_ "

"That's what I just said."

"Does that mean that you didn't even -"

"Again, Thor - I _dare_ you."

Bursting into roaring laughter, Thor shook his head. "Not only in love with a mortal, but taking it slow with her, too! You have nothing to fear, brother - even if I told our parents about this, they would never believe me!"

   
  


* * *

 

 

When Emily heard somebody knock on her door only moments after she'd come home in the evening, she expected to see Loki and opened the door with a beaming smile on her face. At the sight of Natasha, her face fell, causing Natasha to huff.

"Wow - relax, I'm not Fury."

Emily laughed. "I'm sorry. I was just expecting Loki because I literally came home two seconds ago -"

"And you think with his magical tricks he's the only one who can trace you?"

"Oh god", Emily groaned, "Is there a single person in this tower that hasn't put JARVIS on my trails?"

Natasha smirked. "I think it's only me and Tony, actually."

"That's more than enough."

"I'm just kidding, golubok." Natasha winked at her. "It was a coincidence, actually. I just wanted to talk to you before we go to Tony's little come together."

Emily frowned. "Is everything alright?"

"It sure looked like that this morning", Natasha chuckled, "I guess you decided to take a chance with Loki then?"

"Your spying skills are truly admirable, russian, considering that we were kissing right in front of you today."

The two women turned around - Emily with a bright smile, Natasha with rolling eyes - to look at a smirking Loki who was leaning against the doorframe with crossed arms.

"Hey", Emily smiled at Loki, "Are you ready for Tony's party?"

Loki's grin grew even wider. "I am always ready, my love. I came to pick you up, but you seem to prefer someone else to accompany you." He nodded in Natasha's direction with a raised eyebrow.

While Natasha gave Loki a playful wink, Emily suddenly seemed nervous.

"Oh no, it's - that's not - Natasha was just - of course we can go to Tony together, I didn't -"

"Emily, I was jesting", Loki interrupted her stammering with an apologetic smile.

Emily swallowed hard, her face flushed, and Loki, sensing her discomfort, decided to change the subject.

"Well, we still have some time left, anyways - I think I will go and look after Thor; the big oaf looked rather weakened after the combat training we had earlier. Will I see you at Stark's so-called party?"

"I - yes, sure", Emily replied, still rather unnerved.

Loki nodded and, after a brief glance at Natasha, stepped closer to give Emily a kiss on the lips.

"I am looking forward to it, my love", he murmured, brushing his knuckles over her cheek before he turned around and left Emily's apartment.

When he was gone, Natasha gave Emily a thoughtful look. "This would have gone differently if it had been Nick coming to pick you up, wouldn't it?"

"Definitely", Emily mumbled, avoiding Natasha's eyes.

For a moment, neither of them said a word until Natasha nudged Emily with her elbow.

"So - 'my love', huh?"

Emily blushed and started to giggle. "Don't worry, we agreed to take it slow."

"I've never been less worried about you", the redhead smiled, "You look happier than I've ever seen you before."

"I am", Emily replied sincerely, "Loki and I were talking yesterday, about - you know - taking things slow. He really is amazing."

When she let out a dreamy sigh, Natasha grinned. "I'm really happy for you. And even a little bit happy for Loki. But for now, let's see how happy you two are when you spend a whole evening with your biggest fanboy."

   
  


* * *

 

  
When Emily and Natasha stepped out of the elevator on the highest floor an hour later, Loki was involved in a conversation with Tony and Bruce about the physical science basis of his teleportation, and it took him a second to notice their arrival. When he did, he stopped in mid-sentence, his lips still parted and his eyes widening.

Emily met his gaze with a rather insecure smile. She had decided to wear one of her new dresses - it was a beautiful black one with a pink bowknot around her waist, and it was hugging her curves perfectly - and she'd also traded the chucks she had been wearing for a pair of black pumps. Natasha had assured her that she looked gorgeous, but she had still felt terribly insecure - until she had seen Loki's face, that was. He was looking at her from the other side of the room with such obvious affection and appreciation in his mesmerizing eyes that Emily could literally feel her self-consciousness vanish. She waved her hand at him and took a deep, contented breath when his smile brightened even more as he was waving back.

"He looks gorgeous, doesn't he?" she whispered, and Natasha chuckled.

"I'm not going to reply to that, because I know his skills good enough by now to know that he can hear us."

Loki smirked and gave a short nod, and Emily felt her cheeks heaten up.

"Great", she muttered, rolling her eyes when Natasha and Loki both started laughing.

But he did look gorgeous, after all - he wasn't wearing his casual asgardian attire as he usually did, but black pants and a dark green shirt with a black leather jacket over it. Emily couldn't help but giggle when she found herself wondering if Tony had taken him out for a little shopping trip.

Suddenly standing in front of her, Loki cocked his head. "What is so funny?"

"Nothing", Emily smirked, eyeing him up and down. "You really do look gorgeous."

"So I heard", Loki replied smugly, causing Emily to blush again.

"Shut up."

"Now that is no way to speak to your god, little one", Loki grinned, leaning forwards to brush his lips against Emily's.

"I knew it", Natasha muttered, but Emily was too overwhelmed by the soft kiss that Loki was giving her to notice.

When the god let go of her, he brushed a stray curl out of her face. " _You_ look gorgeous, my love."

"My love!" Tony's voice sounded through the room, "Did everybody hear that? He said 'my love' - about time that -"

He stopped when he met the gaze of his fiancée who was just walking towards them.

"Tony, do yourself a favour and shut up, will you? Loki, Emily - it's so nice to see you!"

"Virgina, my dearest", Loki smiled, "How wonderful to have you here again. Did you happen to bring your lovely friend, too? Ouch!" He laughed out when Emily elbowed him playfully and gave her a quick peck on the lips. "Forgive me, little one."

Pepper chuckled. "Right. I'm sorry for that, Emily. It was Tony's idea, he was obsessed with making you jealous with Kerstin -"

Emily glared at Tony who was holding his hands up in defence.

"I meant well! And it worked, didn't it?

Loki shook his head. "This woman was part of your plan? You are more cunning than I thought, Stark."

"Hey Loki", Emily said, "Remember how I told you not to kill him? I think I changed my mind about that."

"I wouldn't blame you", Pepper sighed, "I want to kill him at least four times a day."

Tony shrugged. "And you still agreed to marry me. Joke's on you."

   
  


* * *

 

  
It was a - in Loki's eyes, surprisingly - nice evening. Thor had invited Jane over and she had brought Darcy and Erik Selvig with her, and Clint had even brought his wife Laura into the Tower for the first time. Apart from Erik, who seemed determined to keep a safety distance to the slightly guilty looking Loki, they were all getting along better than anyone would have expected. Even Jane wasn't as hostile towards Loki anymore. When she greeted him with a faint smile, Loki found himself wondering how much time Thor must have spent talking her into forgiving him, but he returned her greeting politely and decided to keep this question to himself - he suspected that Thor would probably not have found it as amusing as Loki did. Tony - maybe thanks to Pepper's occasional glares - gave his best not to anger Loki, and Loki - definitely thanks to Emily's presence - didn't threaten to murder him in turn.

Around 3 o'clock in the morning, Loki and Emily decided to leave.

Tony had fallen asleep in his Iron Man suit after proudly presenting a few new features he'd developed; Jane, Bruce and Erik were trying to figure out how to lift Mjölnir ("It's physically impossible that only Thor can lift it"); Natasha was giving her best to teach Pepper, Darcy and Laura some self defense moves while all four women were giggling uncontrollably and Thor, Steve and Clint were having a drinking contest that the helplessly drunken, nonsense-babbling Clint was about to lose. Loki and Emily had spent the last thirty minutes decorating Tony and taking pictures of him, but they had gotten distracted more and more by each other's presence. When they'd ended up on the couch, passionately kissing each other, and Thor, Clint and Darcy started to whistle and cheer, Emily suggested to go, and Loki was more than willing to leave, too.

They had barely entered the elevator when Loki pressed Emily against the wall, his hands buried in her curly hair, to brush his lips against hers. Emily, her hands on Loki's waist, made an approving sound as he captured her mouth with undeniable passion.

"I have been dying to touch you ever since you have walked into the room in this magnificent dress, darling", he breathed against her lips, his hands running through her hair.

Emily hummed, reclaiming his mouth with such urgency that she could feel Loki smile against her lips. He let his hands roam over her body, just barely brushing the side of her breasts and her waist until they wandered back to her neck to gently cup her face.

For a brief moment, Emily felt a rush of gratitude for his thoughtfulness to keep things so moderate - there was no doubt that he was only doing it for her sake - and for an even briefer moment, she found herself wondering if she actually still _wanted_ to keep things moderate. Then, when she felt Loki suckling gently on her lip, she was suddenly overwhelmed with such ardent desire for him that her mind blanked out and, throwing all caution aside, she grabbed Loki's behind and pulled him flush against her. She enjoyed his surprised gasp almost as much as the sudden feeling of his hardness pressing against her body.

Reluctantly, Loki pulled away from Emily's lips and locked eyes with her; a silent, careful question, and when Emily gave him a genuine smile and gently brushed her lips against his again while letting her hands slip underneath his shirt to stroke over his muscular back, he couldn't stifle a longing moan anymore. He moved his hands to her breasts again, gently cupping them this time, his thumbs caressing the bare skin above the neckline of her dress, and Emily arched into his touch.

Just as she was starting to unbutton his shirt, the doors of the elevator slid open. They both growled, irritated by the sudden disturbance.

"Why the hell are we walking, anyways?"

Loki laughed. "You, my dearest, have become spoiled."

Emily gave him a cheeky smile. "No, just impatient."

"Oh? Are you so greedy for your god?"

Feeling her cheeks heat up, Emily quickly turned around to leave the elevator. She had barely made two steps into the hallway when she felt Loki's strong arms around her body, and before she could say a word, he'd already scooped her up in bridal style and smirked at her.

"Nice try to escape me."

Emily giggled. "Loki, let me down!"

"Down?" Loki raised an eyebrow. "You just complained about having to walk, did you not? Your wish is my command, little one."

"Oh?" Emily smirked. "Well, if that's the case, then I wish to see a sunset in the Caribbean now."

Chuckling, Loki leant forwards to press a soft kiss against Emily's forehead. "It is late night there, my sweet, just like here. No sunset to see."

"Oh. Right", Emily muttered, slightly embarrassed.

"We could go there tomorrow for the next one, though."

"Yes! Tomorrow!"

She looked and sounded so enthusiastic that Loki, still walking with her scooped up in his arms, couldn't help but laugh. "So be it."

"Do I get another wish?"

Loki grinned cheekily. "Well, do you have one?"

"Hell yes." She smirked. "I wish to go to your bed."

_Thank the norns, the stars and even Odin himself if necessary._

Loki's eyes were glistening with excitement when he said, "Your wish -"

A cold wave surged through Emily and as always, she gasped at the uncomfortable feeling. But it was over in a split second, and when she opened her eyes, she was lying on a dark green blanket in Loki's large bed, Loki lying beside her, still holding her in his arms.

"- is my command."

Emily beamed at him. "If you'd said 'Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo', you'd be my personal fairy godmother!"

Loki frowned. "Bibbidi-what?"

She couldn't help but giggle. "I'll explain that tomorrow."

"I agree. We have better things to do right now, have we not?" Loki purred, his voice suddenly hoarse with desire, and brushed a stray curl out of her face.

Emily closed her eyes to savour his touch.

"Definitely", she whispered, a pang of arousal rushing through her.

When Loki leant forwards and let his lips graze hers, she cupped the back of his head to pull him closer, sighing blissfully when their tongues touched again.

She was fumbling with the buttons of his shirt for a moment before she could finally pull it down and toss it to the ground, and she had to stifle a moan when she let her hands roam over his upper body. He felt amazing, he _was_ amazing, hell, he was _perfect_ , and for a second, Emily couldn't believe that he actually wanted to be here with her - with _her_ , an ordinary woman at best -

As if he'd heard her thoughts, Loki's lips trailed over her throat until they reached her ear, and he whispered, "You are gorgeous, my love - I have been dying to have you here for so long -"

He moved over her, ran his hands over the smooth material that was still covering Emily's shoulders and arms until he found her hands, and he admired the softness of her skin for a moment before he intertwined his fingers with hers and positioned their locked hands above her head. With a soft hum, Emily opened her eyes again and Loki was filled with a painfully strong desire for her when he saw the look of passion and arousal on her flushed face. Her brown eyes were dark with lust, her pupils blown, and Loki couldn't hold back anymore. He claimed her mouth with hungry fervour, grinding himself against her soft body, and let go of her hands to push the top of her dress down and expose her breasts.

He growled with need at the sight of her bared skin and lowered his head to kiss one of her already hardened nipples. Emily moaned, running her hands through Loki's tousled black hair. When he suckled on her breast, his tongue flickering against her nipple, she arched her whole body into his.

"Darling, you feel amazing", Loki whispered, his lips trailing over her collarbone now, and Emily sighed when they found an especially sensitive spot right beneath her ear before they wandered down again. His hands, still cupping her breasts, started to move down slowly until they finally reached the hem of her dress, and he pushed it upwards with obvious impatience, his hands brushing against her bare thighs.

He was so lost in his passion that he didn't notice Emily's sudden stillness. When his hands finally reached her panties, he felt her tense slightly beneath him, and he lifted his gaze to look at her. He frowned when he saw her expression.

"Emily? What is wrong?"

She met his gaze and gave him a strained smile. "Nothing, I'm sorry -"

"Have I been too fast?"

Emily shook her head, avoiding his gaze. "No, I - not at all, I'm just - I'm sorry, Loki -"

Loki crawled over the bed to lie down beside her, propped up on his elbow. He watched her carefully.

"There is no need for you to be sorry. I did not want to push you -"

"You didn't", Emily objected, "Not at all - I wanted this, too, but I - I just - when you - I -"

"You are not ready", Loki stated softly, and he was alarmed to see tears glistening in her eyes.

Before he could say something, Emily was already speaking.

"I - I _thought_ I was, but then I realized that I'm - that I'm not - I'm _sorry_ -"

Loki carefully brushed a tear from her cheek. "That is perfectly fine, little one. Why didn't you tell me?"

She looked up with wide eyes, carefully searching his face for whatever she had been expecting from him. Her voice was small and insecure when she asked, "You are not angry?"

Loki frowned. "Why would I be -"

When the realization hit him, he gritted his teeth and took a deep breath. Emily watched him anxiously and Loki's face softened when he saw her expression. He cupped her face, his thumbs caressing her cheeks, and locked eyes with her.

"Listen to me", he said softly, "I told you this before, and I mean it - I will _never_ do anything to you that you do not want me to. And I will never be angry if there is anything you do not want."

She didn't look convinced, and Loki gave her a smile. "We agreed to take things slow, remember? I - I let myself get carried away, and I apologize for that -"

Emily shook her head. "If I'm not allowed to apologize, then neither are you - it wasn't your fault, I was just as carried away as you - until - uh -"

"Until you realized that you are not ready yet. Why did you not tell me to stop?"

"I - I didn't want to disappoint you - or anger you - or, I don't know -"

Loki gave her a very soft kiss on her lips. "You could never disappoint or anger me simply by telling me your needs."

Emily was still avoiding his gaze and he pushed her head carefully into his direction. When she finally looked up at him, he smiled.

"I mean it. Please, Emily, always be honest with me. You must tell me if I cross a line. I gave you the promise to never hurt you or do anything against your will, after all, and to keep this promise, I need your help."

For a moment, Emily was silent. Then she burst out, "I don't deserve you."

Loki chuckled. "Funny. I was just thinking the same thing. You are far too good for me."

"What?" Emily laughed in disbelief. "Are you kidding me?"

"Not at all."

Emily bit her lip. "You - you still want to stay with me, even if I - you know - make things so difficult?"

Loki chuckled. "Darling, I have been accused of making things difficult for over thousand years. Trust me, you are far from being a match for me when it comes to that."

They both laughed.

"So", Emily said eventually, glancing at Loki's bare chest, "What do we do now? I mean -"

Loki shrugged. "I would suggest to get a few cookies from the kitchen first and then go back to bed so we can fall asleep together. What do you say?"

She eyed him warily. "Are you - are you okay with that?"

Loki smiled as he put his arms around her to pull her into a tight embrace. "I am more than okay with that. In fact, I may be the luckiest man alive for holding you in my arms."

Emily nuzzled her face into his chest and closed her eyes, letting out a long, relieved sigh when the painfully intense feeling of anxiousness finally left her. She had expected Loki to be angry, disappointed, frustrated; she had been afraid that he would call her selfish or pathetic, that he would yell at her or demand to sleep with her anyways; she had even feared that he might throw her out of his apartment because of her refusal to give him what he wanted - but instead, Loki was just holding her. There was no pressure, no accusations, nothing that made her feel uncomfortable in any way. It was very much the contrary, actually - she had never felt safer or more comfortable before.

She reached for Loki's warm, big hand and squeezed it gratefully.

"I'm definitely the luckiest woman alive for being held in your arms, too."

 


	38. Dating A Powerful Wizard God

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so, so sorry that it took me so long! Real life can be a real bitch sometimes. But now I finally have more time, so I'm going to post new chapters first (I'm almost done with the next one for In Loki’s Possession, too, for those of you who are waiting for it :)) and will then, finally, start replying to your comments - I'm terribly sorry that it took me so long, but even if it takes me an eternity to reply, be assured that I deeply cherish each comment I receive!
> 
> You're probably going to notice the sudden shocking lack of grammar mistakes - all credit belongs to the glorious [TheLeftHand](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLeftHand/pseuds/TheLeftHand)! I'm not only blessed with her wonderful friendship, she has also taken on the task of beta-reading my stories, about which I am incredibly happy and proud!  
> You should check out her stories - she's a magnificent writer that I truly feel honoured to know.
> 
> I hope that you'll like the new chapter and that it was worth the long wait :) Thank you for your support and patience!
> 
> ***

Emily was the first to wake up the next morning, and she smiled fondly at Loki when she looked at him.

He was still sleeping peacefully, his hair all wavy around his handsome face, and a few crumbs of chocolate chip cookies were scattered over one of his cheeks and his hair. She couldn't actually remember that he'd gotten out of bed again the night before, so he must have waited until after she'd already fallen asleep to return to the kitchen and get his desired cookies. Somehow, the thought of the powerful god sneaking out of the bed to steal some cookies from the kitchen in the middle of the night triggered an overwhelming urge in Emily to kiss him, and with a soft smile, she trailed her fingers over Loki's cheekbones to wipe the crumbs away before leaning over him to brush her lips against his.

She didn't expect him to wake up and, out of pure instinct, grab her wrists while letting out a warning growl.

It took him only a split second to realize that he wasn't looking at a vicious attacker, but into Emily's surprised face instead. He quickly loosened his grip around her wrists and pulled her down at the same time, which resulted in Emily losing her balance and tumbling onto Loki's chest with a squeak.  
When she raised her head, she was laughing.

"I didn't know I looked so terrifying in the morning."

Loki smirked. "You caught me unprepared. Sorry, my sweet."

He gave her a quick kiss, and Emily smiled, nuzzling her face into the crook of his neck again as he wrapped his arms around her body.

They stayed like this for a moment, until Emily cleared her throat and murmured, "Loki - I'm really sorry for last night -"

"I am not", Loki breathed into her ear, "I enjoyed every second of it."

"Yes, I - me, too, but - what I mean is -"

"I know what you mean", Loki whispered, "And you still have no reason to apologize."

Emily squirmed. "I shouldn't have - well, I guess I had one of Darcy's shots too many - I mean, not that I wouldn't want you without drinking, but -"

Loki smirked. "I know. I am rather irresistible, with or without alcohol. And now stop apologizing."

She nodded sheepishly, her fingers playing with Loki's hair.

Trailing his hands up and down Emily's back, Loki let out a sigh. "We should get up soon - Stark wanted to see me."

Emily yawned. "Oh, come on. It's the weekend. And I'm really tired."

"A coffee should help with that", Loki grinned, gently pushing Emily off his chest.

She groaned unwillingly. "Stop that. Stay here."

"No coffee, then?"

A second passed before Emily muttered,

"Alright. Send your clone."

Loki chuckled. "You have truly become spoiled, my love."

Shaking her head while nuzzling her face even deeper into Loki's warm neck, Emily murmured, "Why do you think I'm dating a powerful wizard god? So he can stay in bed with me while using his magic to make some coffee for us."

Still laughing, Loki tightened his embrace, brushing his lips against Emily's forehead. "You sure have modest pretensions."

"For now. We wanted to take it slow, remember?"

"Rather bold this morning, aren't we?" Loki could feel her grin against his neck, and he let his hands run through her hair before he murmured carefully, "So - you are dating a powerful wizard god, hm?"

He couldn't stifle a smirk when Emily's breath hitched. He was almost sure he could feel her face heating up, too.

"You know, that is a funny coincidence", he whispered into her ear when she started stuttering incoherent words, "Because I am dating a wonderful, beautiful mortal girl."

"Really?" Emily replied, lifting her head to narrow her eyes at Loki, "Do I know her? It's that beauty queen friend of Pepper, isn't it?"

Loki laughed out, and Emily shook her head. "I can't believe that she was part of Tony's plan. How long has he been trying to get us together?"

"A while. And I have to admit, it was one of his wiser ideas. So you were indeed jealous back then, were you not?"

Emily buried her burning face in Loki's neck again, and he grinned smugly while stroking her hair.

"Here is your order, mylady", Emily suddenly heard Loki's voice from behind her, and she gasped and turned around to stare at a second Loki who was offering her a tray with two cups of cappuccino and a plate of what looked very much like a big stack of warm pancakes, a cocky grin plastered on his face. She looked back at the Loki that was still lying beneath her.

"You really sent a clone into the kitchen?"

"Bibbidi-Babou."

"You mean Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo?" Laughing, she leaned closer to him again to give him a kiss and then turned around to look at his clone. Eyeing him up and down before turning her head back to the real Loki, she said, "Would you be jealous if I gave him a thank you kiss now?"

Loki smirked. "Not at all. It might arouse me a bit, though."

Emily burst into giggles. "Oh my god - I never realized how wicked you are!" When she took the tray from Loki's illusion, her hand brushed against his, and she frowned. "Hey - I couldn't touch him before - is this another kind of - uh, clone magic?"

"The same as before, but it is an advanced spell. I have been working on conjuring up corporeal illusions of myself. I thought it would come in handy from time to time." When he noticed a deep blush crawling into Emily's cheeks, he chuckled. "Not at _those_ times, my sweet. I was thinking of combats."

"Oh", Emily murmured, slightly embarrassed, and sat down again.

Loki took the tray with their breakfast from her and placed it between them before leaning over to cup Emily's face and give her a kiss. She closed her eyes to return it - and flinched in surprise when she suddenly felt the clone's lips brush against her neck from behind, too.

"Who is the wicked one of us now?" he whispered, just barely touching her ear with his soft lips.

Emily swallowed hard, her eyes locked with the real god of mischief whose mouth was still pressed against hers, and he chuckled against her lips at the sight of her flushed face.

She wasn't sure if she was disappointed or relieved when she felt Loki's illusion disappear.

"That was - mean", she murmured meekly, and Loki smirked, reaching out for a pancake.

"I apologize, my sweet. I imagine it is slightly overwhelming to deal with two of my sort."

"Yeah", Emily grinned, "I can barely keep up with one of you, really. Especially that early in the morning. And even more so after last night." She took a big gulp of her coffee and shook her head. "What the hell was in Darcy's shots?"

Loki, just about to take his first bite of pancake, shook his head. "I doubt that I want to know that, considering that they even managed to knock out Stark himself." His mouth full with pancake, he eyed Emily up and down. "Do you feel alright? Or would you like another one of my potions?"

"Oh right, your potion!" Emily exclaimed, spilling a bit of her cappuccino on the bedsheets out of excitement, "I almost forgot about it - that was amazing! What was it for again?"

Loki smiled, casually waving his hand to remove the spilt coffee. "It was a very simple potion to enhance one's wellbeing. It is rather popular in Asgard - you could compare it to the Midgardian coffee, actually. Its effect on mortals is slightly stronger, though, which is why it can heal headaches, slight nausea and similar physical discomforts."

"That's pretty cool."

"Indeed."

"It was a little strange, though - it tasted completely different than what I'd expected from its scent -"

Loki smirked cheekily. "That is because I altered it to make it smell more appealing to you." He chuckled at Emily's expression. "Its real scent is very - odd, especially to those who are not used to it. I wanted to make sure that you were still going to drink it. Were you not suspicious that it smelled like your favourite tea and your favourite fruit?"

Emily shook her head in disbelief. "You tricked me! You - you cunning little fox!"

"I prefer God of Mischief", Loki grinned and winked at her before adding, "Actually, I was inspired by your beloved book series, so you cannot really blame me. It was your own fault."

Emily laughed out. "Oh, really?" She frowned. "Wait - you've already reached the sixth book?"

Loki raised his eyebrows. "What?"

Shrugging, she replied, "Well, the potion you're talking about is first mentioned in the sixth book - Professor Slughorn shows the students the love potion Amortentia in one of his lessons, and -"

"By the norns, did you learn these books by heart?"

"Pretty nearly", Emily said bashfully before beaming at him. "So you like them then, or you wouldn't be reading them so fast!"

"I do enjoy reading them, yes", Loki admitted and grinned at Emily's delighted squeak. "You really do have exquisite literature in this realm."

"Obviously - I can't believe that you actually brewed a potion inspired by Harry Potter!"

"The only inspiration it gave me was to change the scent into something you liked, the potion itself is older than your whole realm", Loki grumbled.

Emily ignored him. "You know what, you'd actually make a perfect Professor Snape! We could dress you up as him at Halloween - you can even keep your colours and -"

"You are lucky I like you", Loki interrupted her sternly, "Or else I would have turned you into a ferret for this. Now drink your coffee."

 

 

* * *

 

 

"You're late", Tony stated when Loki entered his office.

Loki nodded. "I am."

"Usually, people who are late apologize for being late, you know."

"Fascinating concept."

Tony let out a sigh. "Whatever. There's something I wanted to talk to you about."

Loki eyed him warily, and Tony chuckled. "Don't give me that look. You're not in trouble, kid."

"Stark", Loki said indignantly, "Do I constantly have to remind you of my age and that it far surpasses yours?"

Tony shrugged. "Well, you certainly look younger than you are, you know." When Loki rolled his eyes, he grinned. "Sorry. I guess with all the She-Loves-Me-She-Loves-Me-Not-Drama that's been going on with you and your sweetheart, you two kinda appealed to my fatherly instincts. Be happy I'm not calling you Stark Junior."

" _You_ should be happy you are not calling me that. I doubt that you would survive it for very long."

"Ah, I'm just kidding, Ani. You're more like a little brother to me, you know."

"I do already have an older brother whom I am trying to murder on a regular basis, Stark."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Fine. Maybe we should change the topic. So here's the thing - remember how we talked about you eventually becoming an official team member of The Avengers?"

Loki frowned. "Yes."

"I'd say you and the rest of the team are ready."

Narrowing his eyes at Tony, Loki crossed his arms. "You think so?"

"I do. The only obstacle we're going to have to face is Fury, who's obviously still not a fan of yours - and the Avengers Initiative is a cooperation between SHIELD and Stark Industries, after all."

Loki hummed, but didn't say anything, and Tony eyed him up and down. "You don't seem overly excited."

"I - I do appreciate the gesture, Stark. And I would -" Loki swallowed and his entire face twitched, making it look as if it was literally painful for him to say his next words out loud. "I would be honoured to be an official part of the Avengers."

Tony suppressed a smirk. "Great. Then I'm going to call Fury over for a meeting with the rest of the team."

"You really expect him to approve of this?"

"No. But I expect the others to be convincing enough to change that."

Loki hummed again, thoughtfully, drumming his fingers on Tony's desk. He wasn't too sure if there was anything that could possibly change Fury's opinion of him, and he couldn't really blame him.

"It would help if you behaved when he gets here, though."

"I shall consider it", Loki replied with a condescending nod before a bright grin spread over his face. "But I have one condition."

Tony frowned. "What condition?"

Snapping an Iron Man action figure from Tony's desk, Loki smirked at him. "I shall only become an Avenger if you see to it that there'll be little dolls made of me, too."

 

 

* * *

 

 

When Emily heard a knock on her door in the early evening, she had just started wondering if she was going to spend the evening alone - she and Loki hadn't planned anything, and she hadn't heard from him ever since he'd left to meet Tony, either, which was fine, theoretically - but if she was being honest with herself, she was starting to miss him dearly. The realization was somehow frightening and unsettling - but undeniably true.

Her heart leapt with joy when she opened the door to look into Loki's face.

"Hello, my sweet. Are you ready?"

She frowned. "Ready? For what?"

"For the Caribbean." Loki smirked. "We do not want to miss out on today's sunset, do we now?"

Emily laughed in disbelief. "What? Are you - what, seriously?"

Loki shrugged. "Of course. So?"

"So..?"

"Are you ready or not?"

With a delighted squeak, Emily made a little jump. "Ready for a trip to the Caribbean? Hell, yes!"

Loki chuckled at the enthusiasm on her face and put his arms around her. "Well then, hold on tight."

The uncomfortable feeling lasted a second longer than usual, and Emily instinctively nuzzled herself into Loki's warm, protective body. When the freezing cold was replaced by a sudden warm breeze, her eyes snapped back open, and she could almost feel her heart miss a beat.

They were standing on a long, white sandbeach with nobody else in sight, surrounded only by a couple of huge palm trees, and they were just a few yards away from an endless ocean of crystal clear water that was sparkling brightly in the sun.

Emily opened and closed her mouth a few times before she finally managed to stutter, "My god, that's - that's -"

Loki chuckled, very pleased by her obvious joy. "Do you like it?"

For a second, Emily wasn't able to avert her gaze from the beautiful sight in front of her and she searched blindly for Loki's hand until she found it and squeezed it tightly. Then, she slowly turned her face towards him, her eyes wide and glistening with amazement.

"God, that's beautiful", she whispered, glancing back at the ocean for a moment before she stepped closer to Loki to hug him.

Loki smiled, gently stroking her head. He couldn't hold back a laugh when Emily wriggled out of their embrace only a few seconds later, obviously unable to keep her gaze away from her surroundings. When he pressed a soft kiss to her temple, she looked back at him.

"I can't believe we're here! Look at the water! It's so clear - and look how _white_ the sand is! God, look at these _palm trees!_ It's - it's amazing! Thank you so much, Loki!"

Loki chuckled. "It is not my doing, actually, you know - I may be a god, but the beach was here before me."

Emily laughed, nudging him with her elbow. "I mean, for bringing me here, you smartass."

"Now that is no way to talk to your god."

"If my god is a smartass, then it is." Emily smirked, but suddenly, her gaze softened and became unsteady, and she swallowed hard. "Loki - I - I just - I want you to know that I'm really, really happy to be with you."

She blushed and avoided his gaze, as if scared to have made herself too vulnerable with her admission, and Loki cupped her face to give her a soft kiss.

"I'm happy to be with you, too", he breathed against her lips before they melted into a long, deep kiss that left them both breathless.

"If we don't stop now, we might end up missing the sunset, after all", Loki whispered eventually, and Emily grinned bashfully. "But we do still have some time left", he added, "Maybe we should have something to eat while we are waiting?"

He pointed at something behind her, and Emily turned around and gasped.

"Loki! Did you -"

She didn't even end her sentence - of course it had been him, and she shook her head in amazement, wondering how this man had just managed to make an already utterly romantic situation even more stunningly perfect.

There was a large, emerald green blanket spread out on the white sand, and it was surrounded by sparkling little lights that seemed to be hovering in the air, bathing the place in warm, softly gleaming light. A basket was standing in one of the corners of the blanket, and Emily could see a bottle and a few different kinds of fruit peeking out of it.

"You - you prepared a picnic?"

"I did indeed."

Emily stared at him. "God, you're - you're _amazing!_ "

He smirked smugly. "I am indeed."

When Emily laughed, an almost sheepish smile was suddenly tugging at the corners of his lips. "Well, our first date - as much as I enjoyed it - was clearly carrying Stark's signature. I thought our second proper date should - well, carry ours." He furrowed his brows slightly. "You do like it, then?"

"I love it!"

The overwhelmed girl threw her arms around Loki and squeezed him so tightly that she briefly wondered if she might be hurting him - until she remembered that she probably couldn't hurt him even if she tried.

When they sat down, Emily heaved a happy little sigh before giving Loki a smirk. "Let me guess - you brought chocolate chip cookies?"

Loki chuckled. "No, actually, I did not. I asked Thor to bring me some of the traditional Asgardian foods so I could show them to you. Would you like to try some?"

"Of course!" Emily exclaimed, vaguely registering that she sounded like an excited little girl, but she couldn't help it - and Loki definitely didn't seem to mind.

He beamed at her and took something resembling a bread roll out of the basket, breaking it in two.

"This is _brauð_ \- it is very much like Midgardian bread, but it is slightly sweeter. It is what we usually have for breakfast, with honey, meat or cheese, of course."

He waved his hand and a big plate with different pieces of meat and cheese rose from the basket and settled between them. Emily watched in awe as a piece of cheese flew towards Loki, who caught it gracefully and put it into his mouth, followed by a small piece of _brauð_. She quickly followed his example and let out a moan at the taste - this couldn't possibly just be bread, it was the most delicious thing she'd ever had - it tasted like - like a pastry made of milk and honey - and dear god, this _cheese_ \- it was practically melting on her tongue -

"Do you like it?"

"Holy shit, yes", Emily moaned with her mouth full, "Tell Thor to get us more of those - I'm never going to eat Midgardian bread again!"

Loki chuckled, watching with a pleased expression how eagerly Emily took her third and fourth piece of brauð. For some reason that he didn't really understand himself it always gave him a weird, warm feeling when Emily referred to Earth as Midgard.

"Try one of the fruits next", he suggested, pointing at a small reed basket with different colourful kinds of fruit inside.

Emily immediately took something that looked like a bright pink peach, and Loki couldn't stifle a smirk - he knew that she would pick this particular fruit because of its colour - and he burst into loud laughter when she took a bite and squeaked loudly at the taste, her face contorting.

"Oh god, that's sour!" she shrieked, helplessly waving her hands around, and she gratefully took the water bottle that Loki, guffawing, offered her to wash down the sour taste with a few big gulps. She grabbed a big piece of brauð and stuffed it into her mouth before taking a deep breath. "My god, that was worse than a lemon - my tongue is literally prickling! What the hell was that?"

Loki, still laughing heartily, wiped a tear from his cheek. "I apologize, darling - this is an eplihlæja - it does translate to _'apple that makes one laugh'_ -"

Emily snorted. "Definitely not the one who's eating it!"

"Well, yes - admittedly, we usually eat those in very small slices and dip them into honey beforehand -"

"But you thought it would be funnier to watch me bite straight into it", Emily interrupted him, trying to sound indignated instead of amused.

"I apologize", Loki repeated, still chuckling, and Emily couldn't help but giggle, too.

"You know, I might take your apologies more seriously if you stopped laughing like a maniac."

"Your face was divine", Loki grinned, leaning over to give Emily a quick peck on the lips when she stuck out her tongue.

"You're mean", she declared, eyeing the basket with a frown. "Are there any more Asgardian traps in there?"

Loki shook his head. "No, I promise. But you should try the eplihlæja with a bit of honey, it's rather delicious then -"

"I'm not ever going to touch this thing again", Emily responded, taking a few more sips of water. Her tongue was still prickling and tingling from the sour fruit. When she picked up a smaller, yellow fruit from the basket, she frowned. "Are those raspberries?"

"No", Loki smiled, "It is a hunangberry. One of my favourites."

Emily sniffed at it, then carefully licked it, her eyes narrowed.

Loki chuckled. "I promise, it is safe."

Putting the small berry into her mouth, Emily beamed. "That's delicious! It tastes like honey!"

"Yes, in fact, _hunang_ is the old Norse word for honey", Loki grinned, taking one of the hunangberries himself before holding a small, golden bottle in Emily's direction. "If you already like the berries, you are going to love the juice."

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

They took their time testing the different Asgardian fruits, pastries and cooked delicacies (Emily was even brave enough to give the eplihlæja another chance by dipping it into honey before eating it, and she had to admit that the combination was indeed delicious), and by the time the sun was beginning to set, the basket was almost empty.

Loki's arms wrapped around her waist from behind, they were lying on the blanket, enjoying each other's closeness.

Eventually, Emily sat up, pulling Loki with her, and settled between his legs to lean against his chest.

"Look at this", she whispered, pointing at the colourfully gleaming horizon and the bright red half-circle of the sun, "I've never seen anything this beautiful before."

Loki, his arms around her and his fingers softly stroking her hands, nuzzled his face into her cheek.

"I have", he murmured quietly, pressing a kiss against her temple, and Emily blushed.

Turning her head slightly, she whispered, "I mean it - just _look_ -"

"I mean it, too", the god breathed, brushing his lips against Emily's.

Just when their lips parted, Emily suddenly drew back from Loki, and his eyes opened in confusion. But she was looking at him with a smile.

"I love kissing you", she murmured, "But we're missing out on a spectacular sunset here -"

"The sun sets every day, my love", Loki replied, his voice soft, "And I would love nothing more than to watch every single upcoming sunset with you for the rest of our lives."

Emily's breathing hitched, and for a moment, Loki wondered if this had been too much - planning their entire future together wasn't exactly 'taking it slow', probably - but then, Emily's lips landed on his again.

"In that case, I think I can miss out on this one", she whispered, cupping the back of his head to pull him closer, and Loki's smile widened with relief as he happily obliged and moved over her to return her kiss.

Neither of them noticed when the glowing sun eventually sank into the flaming red water.

 

 

 


End file.
